How long have I tried to stay away from TikTok news. First of all, about how it is being blocked in different countries. It all started in India, when local residents began to actively protest against what is loaded into this service. The protests were peaceful and resulted in the fact that the locals actively “minus” the TikTok rating on Google Play. To do this, even companies were deployed that urged everyone to do it. Given the population of India, it was only a matter of time before the rating dropped to almost one. Then Google reinstated it, but this caused even more discontent. Now TikTok's problems have begun in the United States and may be banned in the country. What's wrong?
Oh, this TikTok. Everything is somehow difficult for him.
TikTok may be banned in the United States
As is often the case, the United States has a lot of questions for China. Under this case, difficulties have already been created for ZTE, Huawei and many others. There is even a register of Chinese companies that may have ties to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). It is these companies that are primarily prohibited from operating in the American market. The list was compiled by government agencies and is periodically updated as new “suspicious companies” appear. First of all, we are talking about telecommunications companies.
TikTok seems to have finally become an unwanted pawn in the ongoing feud between China and some countries. An app for publishing short videos was recently banned in India. Then it was argued as a potential threat to national security. Now, for the same reason, the service can be banned in the United States.
U.S. government statement on TikTok
Late last night, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the country “is taking this very seriously and is definitely considering this issue.” It's about banning Chinese social media apps, including TikTok.
Many people use TikTok. Are they all in danger?
When asked if Americans should download the app, Pompeo replied, “Only if you want your personal information in the hands of the Chinese Communist Party.” Such an accusation sounds very serious and one really needs to have a reason for it.
Pompeo's announcement is prompted by the ongoing trade war between the US and China. We saw how this affected Chinese smartphone makers such as Huawei and ZTE, while Chinese apps remained largely secure and not subject to additional security checks. However, TikTok was an exception this time around.
Will TikTok be banned
The US government is already reviewing the application for national security compliance. The company that owns the service, ByteDance, is also being checked. Lawmakers believe that TikTok is sending data to servers in China and that its parent company has no choice but to share that data with the Chinese government. By the way, in China there really are laws that do not allow the government to obtain the necessary information if necessary – this was reported earlier – but will they collect all the information and is there anything to collect in TikTok?
ByteDanсe owns TikTok
However, it is for this reason that the US Department of Defense urged its employees in January not to install the app until an ongoing security review is completed.
TikTok's reaction to a possible ban
TikTok has repeatedly stated that it does not share data with Chinese authorities. In response to Pompeo's words, a statement was made on CNBC: “TikTok is led by an American CEO, with hundreds of employees and executives in product safety and public policy here in the US. We have no higher priority than promoting safe and reliable apps to our users. We have never provided user data to the Chinese government and we will not do so if requested. ”
Interestingly, already before that, information has repeatedly appeared that the servers on which the data of TikTok users are stored are located outside of China. In addition, the platform even plans to leave Hong Kong due to China's adoption of new national security laws in the region. However, the app continues to face the anger of states in conflict with China. It is quite possible that the company will repeat fate Huawei and the service will have to live under a large number of bans.
Even Instagram is no longer as popular as TikTok.
It's hard to say if this is somehow related, but the constant bans are encountered amid the explosive growth in popularity of TikTok. I already wrote about how he “shot”, and the growth curve of subscribers in time just tends to go up. As a result, the service has already gained more users than Instagram, although it has existed in half the time. Well, at least Telegram, in which we have a news channel, is still safe. Here is some information for reflection, and guess about possible connections yourself.