The European Union wants to gain more control over international tech companies andachievemore independence in the digital arena.
India hasbanned177 Chinese apps on the grounds they are prejudicial to the sovereignty and integrity of India.
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The short-form video platform rose to prominence in 2019 and, by early 2020, was themost downloadedapp globally.
However, the way TikTok treats user data isnot very differentfrom what its US counterparts do.
There is little to suggest the platform poses any singular national security threat.
The company releasestransparency reportssimilar to those of Google and Facebook.
A CIA assessmentreportedlyconcluded there was no evidence the Chinese government had intercepted TikTok data.
TikToks Chinese origins can be used to oversimplify the platforms actual territorial connection to China.
Who gets to extract economic value from the platform economy?
Who gets to exert ideological influence through vast sociotechnical systems?
Who enjoys strategic advantages from control over and access to data and infrastructure?
Recently, however, Chinese technology firms have flourished, expanding Chinas economic and strategic capacities.
He warned China posed a threat to US citizens and explicitly implicated TikTok.
On July 31, 2020, Trump announced he wasplanningto ban TikTok.
Too big, too invasive, and it cant be.
Expansions to the program included five policies aimed at reducing the presence of China in the US.
Ultimately Trumps executive orders were blocked in the courts and the ban and forced sale never implemented.
The rise of digital nationalism
TikTok provides welcomed competition to the platform incumbents.
Whether the Biden administration will continue this approach remains to be seen.
Both the US and China have a long history of shielding strategically important industries.
And both US and Chinese rule must be rejected if we are to decentralize power within the digital environment.
