Who wants TikTok’s skin? The Chinese application with 1.7 billion users has been the target of American and European authorities for several days, for different reasons.
In the United States, the (exit) door is wide open
The application is in the sights of Uncle Sam’s country. At the beginning of the month, American President Joe Biden, during an exchange with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, expressed his concern about the platform. As part of a broader text, the House of Representatives passed a law obliging ByteDance, the Chinese parent company which owns TikTok, to resell the social network, under penalty of ban. Adopted by the Senate, it must be promulgated by Joe Biden.
In the United States, the main argument put forward against TikTok concerns data security and the risk of opinion manipulation. The director of the FBI thus sees TikTok as a “problem for national security” in this presidential campaign year. Last week, a TikTok spokesperson estimated that a ban “would violate the free speech rights of 170 million Americans.” Beijing also sees it as a disguised form of American protectionism, favorable to American platforms, such as Instagram.
The European Union against TikTok Lite
In Brussels, it is the little sister of the vertical video platform that raises questions. ByteDance has launched TikTok Lite, a version of its application that offers a rewards program, in the European Union. By logging in every day, spending time on the platform or following content creators, users accumulate points that they can exchange for money.
The European Commission considers that the mechanism poses “serious risks for the mental health of users”. and opened an investigation on Monday. The platform has until Wednesday to transmit defense elements, otherwise its application will be suspended. “We are disappointed with this decision: the TikTok Lite rewards program is not accessible to those under 18 and includes a daily limit for viewing videos,” said a TikTok spokesperson contacted by AFP. However, the group intends to “continue discussions with the Commission” on this subject.
And in France specifically?
A total ban on TikTok is not on the agenda in France. Sylvain Maillard, president of the Renaissance group in the National Assembly, described it during an appearance on France Info in January as a “site organized to make us totally stupid” and “addict”, and did not rule out its ban if its dangerousness was proven. In July, the Senate also recommended banning it for minors in its report following the commission of inquiry into TikTok. But, for the moment, the application is only prohibited for civil servants, for security reasons.
And elsewhere ?
Many countries, from Denmark to Australia, have also chosen to ban the installation of TikTok on smartphones used by civil servants and other government officials.
India is an exception, because it completely banned the social network in 2020. Almost overnight, after a new episode of tensions between the two countries which led to the death of 20 Indian soldiers, access to the platform was cut off for its 200 million users in the country, CNN reports. Alternatives like Instagram Reels or local applications such as Moj have taken over this niche, with relative success. And the same could be true if the United States upholds the ban on TikTok.