TIKTOK BANNED SOON IN THE USA

The New York Times indicates that Donald Trump could issue an executive order based on the “International Emergency Economic Powers Act” to force American app stores to remove TikTok from their catalog. “I have that authority. I can do it with a decree, ”hammered Donald Trump on Friday. He added that he would act on Saturday.

TikTok would serve Chinese interests

TikTok belongs to the Chinese group ByteDance. It has almost a billion users worldwide and is very popular with young people.

For several weeks, the social network has been suspected of serving the interests of the Chinese government, between censoring content and spying on the data of American users.

The social network has often had to defend itself from its links with China, where ByteDance has a similar application, under another name. He has always denied sharing data with the Chinese authorities and assured that he does not intend to accept requests in this direction. The company was under investigation by CFIUS, the US agency responsible for ensuring that foreign investments do not pose a risk to national security.

Banning the app as it currently exists could also go through a roundabout route. Because the US administration also plans to force the Chinese parent company of TikTok, ByteDance, to sell the platform to an American group. Here too, it is the argument of the protection of national security that would be put forward. Negotiations are already open with Microsoft, according to the Washington Post. According to information from Reuters unveiled this Saturday afternoon, the Chinese group would indeed be ready, under pressure, to sell the American branch of TikTok to the company founded by Bill Gates.

Precedents exist, as the American daily points out. In March, a Chinese company was forced to sell its stake in an American hotel software company. Last year, the Trump administration forced the Chinese owners of the gay dating app Grindr to relinquish control of the company.

"We are not political"

A few days ago, TikTok made a commitment to have a high level of transparency and in particular to allow checks on its algorithms, to reassure users and regulators.

“We are not political, we do not accept political advertising and we have no agenda. Our only objective is to remain a lively and dynamic platform appreciated by all, declared Wednesday in a blog post the boss of TikTok, Kevin Mayer. “The whole industry is under scrutiny, and with good reason. Due to the company's Chinese origins, we are examined even more closely. We accept it and take up the challenge, ”he explained.

James Lewis, head of the technology policy program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, believes that the security risk involved in using TikTok is "close to zero." In contrast, "it looks like ByteDance could be put under pressure from Beijing," Lewis said.

The social network is also disputed elsewhere than in the United States. He has been banned since June 30 in India, where he was placed at the head of the list of 59 Chinese applications blocked by New Delhi on its territory to "ensure the security and sovereignty of Indian cyberspace". Pakistan, a very conservative Muslim country , for its part recently launched "a final warning" to TikTok so that content deemed "immoral, obscene and vulgar" be removed from its platform.

The American decision could also push other countries to do the same.