(PLO)- China and the US have erupted into a new controversy when the US officially banned TikTok on government working devices.
Recently, the White House issued a notice requiring the US Federal agencies within 30 days to completely remove the Chinese (China) TikTok video-sharing social networking application from official electronic devices. government, and block the Internet connection to this application. China immediately issued a statement of protest, accusing the US of abuse of power.
US bans TikTok for security reasons
Specifically, the Director of the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Shalanda Young on February 27 announced a new document directing federal agencies within a month, from the time of sending the instructions, to remove the TikTok application owned by ByteDance (TQ) Co., Ltd. from devices used at work. Informal employees at federal agencies must also comply with this requirement for 90 days, according to the station CNN.
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US Federal agencies have been given a 30-day deadline to remove the TikTok app from work devices. Illustration: AP |
Chris DeRusha, director of the OMB’s Federal Security Office, said the administration of President Joe Biden is fully committed and has invested heavily in efforts to protect the nation’s digital infrastructure and prevent American data from being stolen. .
In December of last year, the US Congress passed a $ 1.7 trillion government spending bill that included a provision to ban TikTok on government devices. The law gives the Biden administration 60 days to submit written instructions on how to implement the ban. The announcement of OMB on February 27 is a concrete step for this provision.
Among the latest accusations by US leaders regarding TikTok, the chairman of the US House of Representatives China Affairs Committee – Congressman Mike Gallagher said that Beijing is using TikTok to expand its influence globally. Mr. Gallagher also emphasized that this is the most complicated aspect of the US-China competition. Congressman Gallagher suggested that the White House should explicitly ban the operation of this application in the US or if it wants to work, ByteDance must cede the ownership of TikTok in the US to another business. Mr. Gallagher himself is campaigning for such a bill.
In fact, a number of US agencies such as the White House, the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of State, the Department of Defense, the US armed forces and more than half of the US states have also actively banned employees from using TikTok. on a previously working device also for security reasons, according to the news agency Archyde.com. The move comes amid concerns that parent company ByteDance will provide user data – such as browsing history and location – to the Chinese government or promote propaganda and misinformation. . These warnings are issued by the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the US Federal Communications Commission. US Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco also expressed concern that the Chinese government may have access to user data.
The data of the market analysis company We Are Social (USA) shows that TikTok is currently the sixth most used social platform in the world, with more than 1 billion unique visitors per day and the fastest growth rate in the world. The number of young users is far ahead of competitors. The rapid increase in users helped TikTok rake in more than $11 billion in ad revenue last year – tripling from 2021.
China condemns US abuse of power
Responding to the US moves, at a press conference on February 28, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Mao Ninh criticized the US for excessively expanding the concept of national security, abusing state power to oppress companies. of other countries. “The United States, the world’s leading power, must be so insecure to be afraid of a phone application that is loved by young people,” Mao Ninh said, according to the news agency. AP.
Ms. Mao Ninh called on Washington to “respect the principles of market economy and fair competition, stop putting pressure on businesses and provide an open, fair and non-discriminatory environment” for foreign businesses in the United States.
As for TikTok, spokeswoman Brooke Oberwetter said that “these bans are nothing more than a political move” and that the US government is isolating itself from a platform loved by millions.
Ms. Oberwetter confessed that TikTok also “had no way” to know if a user was a US government employee and that the company had not had a chance to explain the US government’s questions before the ban. promulgate. According to Oberwetter, it is not clear how the ban on TikTok on US devices will affect the company.
In June 2022, TikTok said it would route all data from users in the US to servers controlled by Oracle Computer Technology Corporation (USA). Oracle is operating in Silicon Valley that TikTok has chosen as its technology partner in 2020 in an effort to avoid a nationwide ban.
According to information from APTikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew will testify before the US Congress in March. The House Energy and Commerce Committee is expected to ask regarding data security practices, privacy and relationships. of this company with other parties.•
Both Europe and Canada also ban
On February 27, the Canadian government also issued a statement banning government employees from installing the social networking application TikTok on work devices and this order took effect from February 28. According to the sheet The National Post, the decision was made to ensure the government’s information security following an internal review found that TikTok’s data collection methods might make users more vulnerable to cyberattacks. Canada’s federal and local privacy regulators are currently coordinating further investigations into the app in light of concerns regarding the collection, use and disclosure of users’ personal information.
The European Commission of the European Union (EU) last week also announced a ban on TikTok on the phones of its employees. Accordingly, all civil servants of the European Commission will have to delete the application before March 15. According to spokeswoman Sonya Gospodinova, the new rule applies to work phones, but if employees’ personal phones have some EU applications installed, the TikTok application must also be removed.
VU Cuong
