There’s a growing momentum to ban Chinese owned TikTok on the grounds of national security. And over the last few months there have been moves to ban TikTok from government devices for example. But CNN is reporting that one US senator is calling on Apple and Google to ban TikTok outright:
A member of the Senate Intelligence Committee is calling on Apple and Google to remove TikTok from their app stores over concerns about national security, in the latest indication of mounting scrutiny on the short-form video app from members of Congress.
In a letter sent to the two tech giants on Thursday, Colorado Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet calls TikTok “an unacceptable threat to the national security of the United States.”
And:
We should accept the very real possibility that [China] could compel TikTok, via ByteDance, to use its influence to advance Chinese government interests,” Bennet wrote, “for example, by tweaking its algorithm to present Americans content to undermine U.S. democratic institutions or muffle criticisms” of China’s handling of Hong Kong, Taiwan or ethnic minorities.
This isn’t the first time that someone has called on Google and Apple to ban TikTok. And neither company is likely to respond to this in any meaningful way. What that will likely mean is if politicians want TikTok banned, they will have to do it themselves and not rely on Google and Apple to do it for them. And seeing how anything China related is a hot button issue in the US right now, I can see that happening. Eventually.
Related
This entry was posted on February 2, 2023 at 8:23 am and is filed under Commentary with tags TikTok. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
US Senator To Apple And Google: Remove TikTok From Your App Stores
There’s a growing momentum to ban Chinese owned TikTok on the grounds of national security. And over the last few months there have been moves to ban TikTok from government devices for example. But CNN is reporting that one US senator is calling on Apple and Google to ban TikTok outright:
A member of the Senate Intelligence Committee is calling on Apple and Google to remove TikTok from their app stores over concerns about national security, in the latest indication of mounting scrutiny on the short-form video app from members of Congress.
In a letter sent to the two tech giants on Thursday, Colorado Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet calls TikTok “an unacceptable threat to the national security of the United States.”
And:
We should accept the very real possibility that [China] could compel TikTok, via ByteDance, to use its influence to advance Chinese government interests,” Bennet wrote, “for example, by tweaking its algorithm to present Americans content to undermine U.S. democratic institutions or muffle criticisms” of China’s handling of Hong Kong, Taiwan or ethnic minorities.
This isn’t the first time that someone has called on Google and Apple to ban TikTok. And neither company is likely to respond to this in any meaningful way. What that will likely mean is if politicians want TikTok banned, they will have to do it themselves and not rely on Google and Apple to do it for them. And seeing how anything China related is a hot button issue in the US right now, I can see that happening. Eventually.
Share this:
Like this:
Related
This entry was posted on February 2, 2023 at 8:23 am and is filed under Commentary with tags TikTok. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.