TikTok It is the most popular app in the world and the most hated in Washington.. This afternoon, its CEO, Shou Zi Chew, will appear before the United States Congress to ensure the survival of the video platform in the country and to calm the wave of restrictions imposed by fears it will serve its purpose. mechanism espionage at your service Chinese.
The main administrator of the ‘app’ will promise US legislators that it will protect the data of more than 150 million users in the country from possible government interference and that it will not fall into the hands of foreigners. “TikTok will continue to be a platform. freedom of expression and will not be manipulated by any government“Chew will make sure The Wall Street Journal moves forward in his speech.
TikTok is owned by Chinese giant ByteDance, headquartered in Beijing. Over the last two years, the platform has established itself as the most popular platform in the world, but its growing use has caused concern, especially in the main world market, the USA. Although US user data is stored on Oracle company servers in Virginia, Washington insisted. mode Xi Jinping can access them. They also believe Beijing can influence the content shown to Americans.
ban wave
Neither accusation has been proven, but that hasn’t stopped the White House from stepping up restrictions on TikTok. Already in 2020, the then president donald trump Threatened to ban TikTok unless he sold his business to the American company Oracle. It didn’t evolve. Now it’s Joe Biden, who reiterated that threat by demanding the Chinese owners of ByteDance to sell their shares of the company they founded. At least 22 states, warned by the FBI, have banned “app” from downloading to official electronic devices; It’s a veto signed by the federal government, and it’s become one of the few issues that unites Democrats and Republicans. Some even want the ‘app’ to be banned altogether.
With the noose around his neck, Chew’s promises aim to ease that tension and reach an agreement with Washington that allows TikTok to continue operating in the country while maintaining its current structure. ByteDance explained 60% of its shares are owned by international investors.. These include the world’s largest investment bank Goldman Sachs, multinational finance firm Morgan Stanley or the all-American venture capital firm Sequoia Capital. The remaining 40% is split in two: 20% is in the hands of employees, 20% is in the hands of its founders, who are Chinese nationals and have more voting power than other shareholders.
keep calm washington
TikTok launched the so-called ‘Texas Project’ to calm lawmakers in the US. This plan, for which they have allocated $ 1.5 million, aims to improve the protection of user data and PR attack to entice regulators, academics and other experts this privacy boost. Last year, the migration of US data to Oracle’s servers instead of their own began. Now, the plan also envisions creating a subsidiary company dedicated to securing data and driven by positions agreed with the Government.
Any attempt to ban TikTok in the US could face legal hurdles. And the American Civil Liberties Union has affirmed that outright banning the Chinese ‘practice’ would violate the right to free speech enshrined in the First Amendment to the Constitution. It could also pose political risks, as the platform is particularly popular among the young Democratic voter base, and as the country holds a presidential election in November 2024 where Biden is in danger of being re-elected.