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China threatens to put the platform’s core algorithm under export control. This would mean that the company would not be of interest to buyers. Also, Tiktok is becoming more and more focused due to sensitive content.
The dominance of social media is increasingly becoming a bone of contention in the trade conflict between the two superpowers.
Photo: Florence Lo (Reuters)
The deadline is September 15. By then, the president of the United States, Donald Trump, wants to have pushed the sale of Tiktok to an American corporation or shut down the digital platform loved by young people. The closer the date gets, the greater the obstacles to reaching an agreement.
Because China is not thinking of leaving the successful enterprise to the Americans without a fight. The Chinese government wants to subject the algorithms, the core of the platform, to export controls. That would seriously depress the value of the company and make it uninteresting to a buyer in the US.
China is beyond artificial intelligence
According to experts, algorithms are what make Tiktok more than just a toy for teens. With the help of “deep learning” technology, they allow users to assess their preferences and tailor the video offering accordingly. According to experts, Tiktok has advanced artificial intelligence more than its American competitors. And that is exactly what makes the platform so valuable to the advertising industry. “Tiktok is looking at you when you look at Tiktok,” says Eugene Wei, a start-up investor and former technology manager at Amazon and Facebook. “Anyone who just sees this as a video app for kids is missing the huge destructive potential.”
Tiktok was not only able to destroy the competition. The platform itself radiates a toxic climate. So toxic that the Australian government was forced to issue an urgent warning last weekend. The occasion was the video of a suicide who commits suicide by shooting himself in the head. It had been downloaded by young people, distributed in a very short time, but some also received a warning.
The head of the Australian government is essential
If someone finds a video of a younger man with long hair and a beard, it should never be opened. Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison asked Tiktok to delete the video. “That is your responsibility, no child should be exposed to such terrible content,” he said. Tiktok tried to delete the video, but it repeatedly reappeared in other corners of the platform.
Like Facebook, Tiktok has a problem with racist content. In mid-August, young men dressed in concentration camp rags and pretending to be victims of the Holocaust appeared on the platform. The videos were distributed as a “Holocaust Challenge” to imitate them.
Even if it is unclear whether the video was intended to be a provocation or a failed attempt to explain the Holocaust, it sparked violent protests from Jewish organizations. “The digitization of anti-Semitism on social media has contributed to the rise in the level of global anti-Semitism,” said the American Jewish Committee. Tiktok has failed to establish barriers against toxic content in time, says Claire Atkin of Check My Ads, a company that wants to separate advertising from obnoxious content.
Tiktok as a bargaining chip in the trade conflict
Despite these issues, Tiktok remains a highly sought after acquisition target. The US government views the export ban on Tiktok algorithms as an attempt by China to further fuel the economic conflict. From this point of view, it is convenient to persuade President Trump to sanction other Chinese companies and thus make it difficult to resolve the conflict. It’s all about blame in an argument without a winner. “The United States uses economic intimidation and political manipulation against non-US companies,” criticized the Chinese Foreign Ministry.
The situation seems so complicated that it is questionable whether an agreement will be reached in mid-September. Otherwise, Trump is faced with the dilemma of banning an app that is loved by young people or waiting for the negotiation skills of Microsoft boss Satya Nadella. Microsoft is credited with the best opportunity to buy, in part because Nadella has joined forces with the retail giant Wal-Mart. A consortium of investors from Oracle and American Tiktok is also underway. According to the Wall Street Journal, the purchase price is 30,000 million dollars, although they include the algorithms.
