The West focuses on TikTok – 8 questions about China’s app dispute The West focuses on TikTok – 8 questions about China’s app dispute

TikTok is creating a lot of excitement these days. Especially among politicians. The US government accuses the makers from China of espionage and surveillance and threatens to completely ban the app from the US. The EU and Britain have also ordered a TikTok ban for the administration. And what about Switzerland? We answer the most important questions and bring clarity to the TikTok chaos:

What is TikTok anyway?

TikTok is a social network like Facebook or Instagram. Users can create short videos and then upload them. The videos range from dancing to cooking to politics. On TikTok (almost) everything can be reported. Besides uploading your own videos, you can like, comment and share the short clips with others.

TikTok is owned by the Chinese company Bytedance. The app was founded in 2016, before it was called Musica.ly. TikTok is now one of the most downloaded apps. It has one billion active users every month, making it the sixth largest social network in the world. The US, Indonesia and Brazil have the largest user numbers.

What is the dispute about?

As much fun as TikTok is for young users in particular, the app is a headache for Western politicians. And that has a simple reason: TikTok’s parent company Bytedance is said to be under the control of the Chinese Communist Party.

Critics think TikTok is a Trojan horse. The Chinese regime should be able to monitor foreign citizens and manipulate the app algorithm according to China’s whims. The app is also accused of sending data to China.

What concerns do you have about TikTok?

Like other apps, TikTok has access to an incredible amount of data: from birthdays to IP addresses. In the summer, TikTok boss Shou Zi Chew had to admit that some Bytedance employees had access to US user data that came from TikTok. But that is not everything.

Journalist Emily Baker-White revealed for the American online magazine Buzzfeed that certain employees of Bytedance “have access to everything”. She later learned that Bytedance employees had accessed Baker-White’s own TikTok usage data, apparently to learn her whereabouts. According to TikTok and Bytedance, this is a violation of company rules, but not systematic eavesdropping. After this incident, several employees had to leave the company.

In addition, politicians fear that TikTok could spread propaganda and disinformation. The Russian presidential election of 2016 showed that social media can be used to manipulate elections. At the time, Russian actors bought advertising space on Facebook and spread controversial messages to divide the population.

What measures has the US taken?

Joe Biden’s government wants to give the Chinese owners of TikTok an ultimatum: either Bytedance sells its shares in the app – or TikTok is completely banned in the United States. This is reported by the Wall Street Journal.

On Monday, TikTok was banned on all government phones. Similar prohibitions apply to members of the House of Representatives and employees. Several states and the US military have also issued similar regulations in the past.

Which countries are participating?

Canada and the EU are also following the ban. The Presidium of the EU Parliament has banned TikTok on company mobile phones. All employees and MPs must remove the app from their work phones by Monday at the latest. All European Commission employees had to do this by Wednesday.

India banned the app nationwide in Summer 2020. For similar reasons as are now being discussed in the US.

Because user information in Europe has already been sent to China: Basically, all data stored on TikTok by European users is stored on servers in Singapore and the US, according to the company. No data should be accessible in China. But in November there was a bang: the European privacy boss wrote in a blog post that certain employees of the group of companies also had access to European user data in China. However, only within the scope of their duties and in accordance with European data protection law.

How does TikTok react to the impending ban?

Bytedance is currently negotiating with the Committee on Foreign Investment in the US (CFIUS). TikTok is trying to find a compromise: on the one hand they want to convince America that Bytedance can remain owned by TikTok in the US, on the other hand they are willing to give a third party like the American software company Oracle insights into how the app works and the algorithm gives. Bytedance has also proposed to store US users’ data exclusively in a separate data center in Texas, which is also operated by Oracle.

TikTok has also proposed creating its own sub-company called TikTok US Data Security (USDS). To address US concerns about user data security. Chinese people should not be allowed to work there. This new entity would eventually report to CFIUS and not Bytedance.

On March 23, the CEO of Bytedance will face the US Congress. He wants to try to get MPs on his side. Access to the huge US market is at stake not only for Bytedance, but also for other Chinese apps such as Shein or Temu. These are especially popular in the US.

Is Switzerland affected?

There is no mention of a TikTok ban in Switzerland yet. Nor on whether Swiss government employees should remove TikTok from their mobile phones, the Federal Chancellery said at the request of Swiss media. More information has not yet been announced.

Should I uninstall TikTok?

This is of course up to each individual. But you should keep in mind the following:

TikTok is not only problematic because of the content published there. But also because of the metadata that the Chinese can obtain via the app. For example, your own location or contacts with other users. In addition, TikTok is perfect for manipulating public opinion.