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| So much international controversy over such a mindless diversion. That is TiktTok's current predicament. |
This is just a follow-up on a previous
post I made about how India banned TikTok's app there. During these difficult times, countries are understandably adapting protectionist stances. After all, it's the easiest strategy to pursue when confronted with hardship: blame foreigners for whatever ails your country. In the telling of US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, TikTok is a Trojan horse for Chinese Communist encroachment into American life. For kicks, I am linking to a Fox News
story for the first time ever (I think)--fitting since we're dealing with the realm of xenophobic post-truth here:
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Monday
the Trump administration is considering restricting United States'
users' access to the Chinese social media application TikTok over
concerns it is potentially being used by the Beijing government as a
means to surveil and propagandize people.
"With respect to Chinese apps on people's cell phones, I can assure
you the United States will get this one right too," he said, adding that
he did not want to dive into specifics and potentially "get ahead" of
any presidential announcement.
"But, it is something we are
looking at," he said, going on to warn Americans that they should be
cautious in using TikTok, lest they want their private information "in
the hands of the Chinese Communist Party.
Nevermind that Pompeo presents no evidence for this claim--
eek, it's from China! is the extent of his exceedingly juvenile argument--but when has that deterred anyone from the Trump administration from bashing the PRC for whatever reason? To
appease Trump, TikTok's parent company is proposing to hire 10,000 US workers:
TikTok
said Tuesday that it plans to create 10,000 jobs in the United States
over the next three years, a substantial increase from the roughly 1,400
employees it currently has in the country. The
announcement comes as the company faces mounting criticism over its
handling of user data and its ties to China through its parent company,
ByteDance.
Which is all well and good, but is there any guarantee this appeasement strategy will work? Since it keeps highlighting that its CEO is American, why not go whole hog and become a majority American-owned company? Indeed, some investors are thinking of
doing just that to get rid of this folly once and for all:
Beleaguered video app Tiktok could be split from its Chinese parent
company Bytedance and sold off to US investors in a bid to curtail a
mooted ban on the app in America, as questions over the company’s data
protection policies face mounting criticism on both sides of the
Atlantic. Tiktok’s $110bn (£86bn) parent firm Bytedance is in
talks with a small group of US investors to sell off a majority stake in
the viral video platform, according to Silicon Valley news site The
Information [...]
ByteDance’s sale discussions have reportedly included the company’s founder and chief executive Zhang Yiming, and Neil Shen, a board member and a partner at Sequoia Capital’s Chinese branch. The
sale plan would require investors such as Sequoia, General Atlantic and
New Enterprise Associates to form a consortium, with Bytedance
potentially retaining a minority stake in the video platform.
It
is thought a formal split from China would allay spreading fears that
the video platform’s parent company is beholden to Beijing authorities
and could be used as a tool of Chinese state surveillance.
i myself am flummoxed by how something so lowbrow and inane can not only find so many devotees but also attract the attention of ardent protectionists. Would Bytedance be willing to offload its golden goose to assuage the concerns of an American madman and his minions? November nears, you know, and Joe Biden may not be as silly. Maybe Bytedance just has to wait Trump out.
