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The United States again threatens to veto the Tik Tok platform, especially popular among younger users, if it does not separate from its Chinese parent. The UK has also banned its use on government phones, as have Belgium and Canada.
The ultimatum from the White House is clear: if Tik Tok continues to be owned by the Chinese group ByteDance, it will be banned in the United States. The question is whether the West is heading towards a total ban on an application that continues to grow in popularity and that is already hot on the heels of almighty ones such as YouTube, Instagram or Twitter.
Our mobile devices are a powerful source of information, and the main fear is that many large Chinese companies are forced to report data directly to their government. RFI has spoken with Luis O. Noguerol, director of cybersecurity at the United States Department of Commerce, who explains how the video platform works in terms of security:
“Tik Tok collects your personal phone information, technical data, your information, location, what you are doing on your phone, what you are looking for on the Internet, your age, your sexual preferences, your preferences from the point of view of marketing. And most importantly: TikTok collects the biometric characteristics of all users. And these biometric characteristics are what we have today as the best protection in terms of electronic security.”
Listen to America’s News about the US threat against TikTok
The efforts to control the giant Tik Tok are added to a geopolitical context marked by the recent crisis of Chinese spy balloons and the uncertain position of the Asian country in the war in Ukraine. But, what is really the legal framework that makes it possible to deal with what the West considers a threat from China? Luis O. Noguerol answers:
“In the European Union, companies that handle the data of its citizens are required by law to protect the data and privacy of their users. That doesn’t exactly exist like that in the United States. What we are doing as the US government is demanding that TikTok be separated, at least legally, from the Chinese government. What would be the consequence of that? Well, TikTok could be brought to court in the United States and it could be forced to share data that would help clarify criminal cases.”
For its part, the Chinese government denies any fraudulent practice and alleges that the threats from the United States undermine the free market. “These are unjustified attacks. The United States has so far not provided any evidence that TikTok threatens the national security of the United States,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said.