Sometimes, very rarely, the two major parties in the USA come together briefly. At least those parts that votes in Congress can decide. For example, there is an opponent against whom Democrats and Republicans basically want to be tough, especially in the 2024 election year: China. And so the members of the House of Representatives want to push a bill against Tiktok through the chamber on Wednesday with the help of the narrow Republican majority and the Democratic minority.
The move is intended to persuade the Chinese parent company to sell the video platform. Otherwise Tiktok would be banned in America. The owner is Bytedance, based in Beijing, registered in the Cayman Islands. The US special committee dealing with the Chinese Communist Party considers the popular social network to be “an unacceptable risk to US national security.” It allows the Chinese government to “surveil and influence the American public.”
Trump: “A lot of people on Tiktok who love it.”
The Republicans want to pass the contents of the paper as part of a special procedure. “We must ensure that the Chinese government cannot use TikTok through data collection and propaganda against American users and our government,” Republican House Majority Leader Steve Scalise said earlier this week. President Joe Biden could sign the regulation as early as Friday. But it may not be that easy after all. Because there is a potentially decisive opponent: Donald Trump.
The same Trump, as president, tried to ban Tiktok from the United States. After the owners complained, a federal judge blocked his attempt in December 2020. Meanwhile, the most powerful Republican appears to have changed his mind. And perhaps not just because polls suggested that a ban could cost him voters.
In an interview with the television station CNBC on Monday, Trump recalled his concerns about data protection and national security. But there is “a lot of good and a lot of bad” about the app, and there are “a lot of people on Tiktok who love it. There are a lot of young people on Tiktok who are going crazy without the platform.” Also: “Without Tiktok you can make Facebook bigger, and I consider Facebook to be an enemy of the people.”
Is Trump selling national security issues like sneakers?
Enemy of the people is one of Trump’s typical forms of expression, although he should be aware that despite its dwindling popularity, many Americans still use Facebook. Trump had also withdrawn his love from the short message service X (formerly Twitter), which he had previously used extensively, but it was possible to return. His private version Truth Social has 6.68 million followers, meaning he follows 66 users. Last summer he is said to have offered X owner Elon Musk to buy Truth Social, like that New York Times reported.
Sneakers or the interests of the USA – all a means to his ends? The former president, here in Philadelphia, with his latest merchandising product.
(Photo: Chip Somodeville/Getty Images/AFP)
Musk is clearly increasingly fond of Trump, as his comments about undocumented immigrants suggest, for example. What exactly makes Trump the defender of Tiktok is a matter of speculation. The Washington Post suspects that his turnaround may have something to do with a Republican patron and Tiktok investor. Trump needs hundreds of millions of dollars during the election campaign and because of his penalties after proceedings. Critics fear that he is selling national security issues in the same way as sneakers. One has the impression, the newspaper writes, “that there is no foreign policy issue on which Trump cannot be moved by the highest bidder.”
Or will Trump, for once, be outvoted by his people? Because in this matter, followers are now being put to the test. An activist in the offensive against Tiktok is the New York Republican Elise Stefanik, a possible candidate for the vice presidency; she rarely contradicts the patron. Even Speaker Mike Johnson, installed by Trump’s hardliners, supports the proposal and believes that Tiktok is “actively undermining our economy and security.” However, he had not yet spoken to Trump about what could change by Wednesday.
The lawyers for Tiktok and Bytedance argue with American freedom of expression that the US government is trying to “deprive 170 million Americans of their constitutional right to freedom of expression.” Trump informed his audience on Truth Social last Friday: “If they get rid of Tiktok, Facebook and Sugar Jewelry will double their business.” “Sugar jewelry” of course means Mark Zuckerberg, the head of Meta, which owns Facebook. Trump calls his opponents such names. Trump claims Facebook cheated in the last election – and apparently believes Tiktok could help him win this election.