TikTok & WeChat
What do Nelson Mandela, Amy Winehouse, TikTok, & WeChat all have in common? They‘ve all been banned from the United States!
TikTok banned? By the President? Isn’t it just some Gen Z dance app? But maybe Microsoft will buy them? 30 Billion Dollars? Spying and stealing our data? What the hell is going on?!
The concept of the President of the United States concerning himself with banning a social media account seems barely worthy of the gracing the pages of even the trashiest tabloid magazine. But naturally, the further one looks into the matter, the more and more complicated it becomes.
I hope this whole thing becomes is nothingburger, though currently, it has the potential to create significant ramifications for companies, economies, and millions of people around the world. I can’t pretend that I even have the foggiest grasp around most of the connections that exist here, but there is a myriad of them. From Apple’s dependence on the Chinese market and what banning a keystone application may do to sales; to the legitimacy of the concerns surrounding diplomacy, privacy, & Chinese surveillance.
There’s a lot more to this story than meets the eye, regardless of what side of the aisle you align, & it’s worth viewing the consequences of this ban as wider reaching than just tit-for-tat because some TikTok teens spoiled Trump’s Oklahoma rally.
Here has been my reading list on the topic. I’ll return to update this page with new content and developments as the story unfolds.
Articles
The Verge: TikTok sues Trump administration over US ban (August 24, 2020)
“Order is ‘not rooted in bona fide national security concerns”
Bloomberg: Trump Administration Reassures Apple, Other Firms on Using WeChat in China (August 21, 2020)
The New York Times: A TikTok Ban Is Overdue (August 18, 2020)
“Critics say we shouldn’t abandon the ideal of an open internet. But there is such a thing as being a sucker.”
Daring Fireball: On TikTok as a Security Threat (August 18, 2020)
The Atlantic: The Panopticon Is Already Here (September 2020 issue)
“Xi Jinping is using artificial intelligence to enhance his government’s totalitarian control—and he’s exporting this technology to regimes around the globe.”
appleinsider: TikTok's plans to sue Trump Administration to end ban on Tuesday (August 09, 2020)
The Verge: Apple’s Chinese business could be devastated by Trump’s WeChat ban (August 08, 2020)
The New York Times: Is TikTok More of a Parenting Problem Than a Security Threat?
“Even as the White House moves against the Chinese social media app, the intelligence agencies do not see it as a major issue along the lines of Huawei.”
The Verge: The US declared war on TikTok because it can’t handle the truth (August 07, 2020)
The Verge: Trump’s WeChat ban could touch everything from Spotify to League of Legends (August 07, 2020)
The New York Times: Trump Targets WeChat and TikTok, in Sharp Escalation With China (August 06, 2020)
“The government cited national security concerns in announcing sweeping restrictions on two popular Chinese social media networks, a move that is likely to be met with retaliation.”
Stratechery: The TikTok War (July 14, 2020)
Cyberscoop: DNC issues another warning on TikTok, citing data security risks (July 12, 2020)
New York Times: Amazon Backtracks From Demand That Employees Delete TikTok (July 10, 2020)
“TikTok, owned by the Chinese company ByteDance, has been under scrutiny as a potential national security threat.”
Podcasts
Dithering: Apple, Control, and WeChat (August 12, 2020)
The Vergecast: How a TikTok ban would affect the influencer economy (August 11, 2020)
“Verge editor-in-chief Nilay Patel talks with New York Times reporter Taylor Lorenz about what actually happens to TikTok users, creators, and the influencer economy if a ban on the app was implemented in the United States.”
Dithering: Microsoft and TikTok (August 07, 2020)
Today, Explained: TikTok, on the clock, Donald says your time is up (August 07, 2020)
Dithering: Amazon & TikTok (July 13, 2020)
