United States: we explain to you why Donald Trump went to war against TikTok
The American president threatened on Friday to ban the United States from the social network, which he suspects of working on behalf of the Chinese authorities.
Sold? Bought ? Banished ? After weeks of rumors and tensions, the American president announced to journalists on Friday, July 31, his desire to ban the TikTok application and to act on this decision quickly.
Praised by young people, the video platform has seen all the colors for several weeks, between threats of ban at the top and negotiations at a standstill. Franceinfo takes stock of the battle between the White House and the social network.
1-First, what is TikTok?
Downloaded more than 1.6 billion times worldwide since its launch in 2016, including 123 million in the United States, TikTok has been particularly popular since the start of the year. The posts of its users are often music videos, 15 to 60 seconds long, usually with filters and special effects.
Its popularity increased during the Covid-19 pandemic: "tiktokers" challenged each other to keep themselves busy and followed the most prominent "influencers" on the platform. The social network is especially popular with young users, between 16 and 24 years old.
2-Why is the social network in the sights of the White House?
The American application, which belongs to the Chinese group ByteDance, is suspected by Washington of capturing the personal data of its users and of sharing them with Beijing. It is the subject of an investigation by CFIUS, the US agency responsible for ensuring that foreign investments do not pose a risk to national security. No public report has been released so far.
After several weeks of tension, Donald Trump decided by announcing Friday to reporters aboard the presidential plane Air Force One that he was going to ban the application in the United States, even indicating that he intended to sign the document as soon as next day.
The announcement caught everyone, including the US media, who believed the president was going to force ByteDance to sell TikTok instead. According to them, Microsoft was negotiating with the group to buy out the American activities of TikTok. Without Donald Trump's announcement, the Wall Street Journal indicates that the discussions could have been concluded as early as Monday.
3-How does the platform defend itself?
The company has always denied sharing data with the Chinese authorities and has assured that it does not intend to accept requests in this regard. A few days ago, TikTok made a commitment to have a high level of transparency and in particular to allow checks of its algorithms, to reassure users and regulators.
"We are not political, we do not accept political advertising and we have no agenda. Our only goal is to remain a lively and dynamic platform appreciated by all."
If data collection is common in mobile applications, it is difficult to know whether or not they are used by Beijing. To be reassuring, "the directors of ByteDance made the decision, upon the acquisition of the competing application Musical.ly and its merger with TikTok in 2016, to maintain a structure based in the United States, independent of its Chinese version Douyin ", explains Le Monde, which specifies that" the moderation is also carried out from offices located in Los Angeles, Dublin, Singapore, etc., with the aim of not being accused of being a diligent spy and destabilization program by Beijing ".
"We are here to stay," Vanessa Pappas, head of the US branch of TikTok, said in a video posted on the app for users on Saturday.
"We are here to stay. Keep your voice heard here and continue to support TikTok! |"
She also said she was "proud" of the 1,500 American employees and pledged to create "10,000 additional jobs in this country over the next three years."
4-What are the reactions of its users?
After the announcement of the American president, the American "tiktokers" reacted strongly and widely on social networks. Panicked, many users have multiplied direct speeches on their accounts or posted videos "urging their fans to follow them on other platforms like Instagram, YouTube, Twitter and the Triller video application", explains CNN (article in English).
Between sarcastic or depressed reactions, they expressed their anger or their amusement, sometimes even their anguish. One of its users posted a farewell title, paying tribute to the platform’s biggest star: Charli d'Amelio, who has more than 75 million subscribers.
Sur le TikTok US, ils en sont aux clips d’adieu. #tiktokban pic.twitter.com/VW4kxrjBA7
— Tristan Mendès France (@tristanmf) August 1, 2020
In another video, viewed over 1.5 million times, a woman smears orange paint on her face and builds a brick wall, titled "Me convincing Trump to let us keep TikTok ".
5-Can Donald Trump really ban the US platform?
According to the New York Times, Donald Trump could pass an executive order by relying on the broad powers conferred on him by the law on the "International Emergency Economic Powers Act" which allows to prohibit certain foreign applications in the application stores Americans.
Some countries have already taken the plunge, such as India, where the application has been banned since June 30. TikTok has indeed been placed at the top of the list of 59 Chinese applications blocked by New Delhi on its territory to "ensure the security and sovereignty of Indian cyberspace". Pakistan, a very conservative Muslim country, recently launched "a final warning" to the video-sharing application TikTok to remove from its platform content deemed "immoral, obscene and vulgar".
However, "banning a platform, even if it was legally possible, harms freedom of expression online and does nothing to solve the larger problem of unjustified government surveillance," responded Jennifer Granick, of the powerful. civil rights organization ACLU.
Moreover, this ban would not necessarily go in the direction of Donald Trump, four months before the presidential elections. "The United States would be the big losers if TikTok were banned," Daniel Castro, vice president of the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, whose views are generally aligned with those of tech giants, said on Saturday. “Millions of Americans, including many Trump supporters, use it to create and share content. (...) All of its servers are located outside of China, and there is no evidence that it constitutes a threat to national security, ”he explains.
