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After Donald Trump made it known that the conditions to approve the sale of TikTok were not yet met, the United States government approved a new measure aimed at prohibiting the download of the application as of September 20. The measure also applies to WeChat, the Chinese app that has been under the “eye” of the Trump Administration since Aug. 6.
The new order, issued by the United States Department of Commerce, states that both TikTok and WeChat must be removed from the North American versions of the Google and Apple app stores.
The rules regarding WeChat go further and, as of Sunday, it will even be prohibited to use the application in the United States, even to make money transfers or payments through the application.
US companies will not be able to take any action that violates the new decision or use the application code in services or software. The additional measures implemented in the WeChat case could apply to TikTok as of November 12 if the process of selling the application to Oracle is not approved.
In a statement, Wilbur Ross, the US Secretary of Commerce, said that the threats presented by WeChat and TikTok are similar, although “they are not identical.” The official highlights that each of the applications collects large amounts of data about users, in cooperation with the Communist Party of China, and that they represent an “unacceptable risk” to the country’s national security.
“The decisions made today demonstrate once again that President Trump will do everything in his power to guarantee national security and protect Americans from threats from the Chinese Communist Party,” the Commerce Secretary emphasized.
Could the TikTok Business Marathon Come to an Unexpected End?
ByteDance will have made a proposal to the Trump Administration to retain control of the largest “slice” of TikTok. However, the government did not approve it, as it wants US investors to own more than 50% of the company that will run TikTok.
Earlier this week, Oracle submitted its proposed acquisition of TikTok to the US government. However, the Administration is reticent and believes that national security concerns still exist.
The question is the possibility that ByteDance will continue to have access to the data of almost 100 million North American users even after the acquisition. All the data would be stored by Oracle in the United States, however all the technology behind TikTok, including the algorithms that determine which videos are presented to users, would still be in the hands of the Chinese company.
ByteDance says China will have to approve Oracle’s proposed deal for the purchase of TikTok, taking into account the new Chinese government law that imposes restrictions on technology exports, including one based on “data analytics for personalized recommendations on IT services. information “.
When asked by Fox Business if there was a possibility that China could retaliate against the decision to ban TikTok, Wilbur Ross did not leave many certainties, only implying that, now, the “ball” is in the court of the Chinese government.
Speaking to the Financial Times, Feng Chucheng, an analyst at consulting firm Plenum, said that, for now, Beijing is unlikely to have a dramatic response, because the US decision has been limited. “China will not take substantial action, but it will certainly take a critical position in its unilateral decision against Chinese technology,” the analyst explained.
