TikTok is known more for its viral dance challenges than its place in geopolitics, but that could be about to change.
With Trump announcing on Friday that the US administration is now pursuing a ban on the popular app, TikTok’s position as a Chinese-owned social media giant has come under renewed scrutiny.
Owned by Beijing-based tech company ByteDance Ltd and launched in 2017, the app has become the focus of security fears – particularly around the potential for sharing user data with Chinese officials
There have also been allegations of the censorship of videos critical of the Chinese government, accusations strongly denied by TikTok.
But assurances made by the app’s owners are not likely to be enough for Trump’s administration, and could impact how the app operates in the UK too.
Why does Trump want to ban TikTok?
Despite the app having been downloaded by millions of Americans, Trump said on Friday that he “may” soon ban TikTok from the US.
His comments were followed up on Sunday when the president’s secretary of state Mike Pompeo described national security concerns surrounding the popular app.
These fears come down down to TikTok’s origins in China, and reports of its potential links to the Chinese Communist Party.
From his use of the phrase “China-virus” to describe Covid-19 to an ongoing trade war, Trump’s attitude towards China hasn’t exactly been kept under wraps – and it appears TikTok is the next aspect of China-US relations to be questioned.
Pompeo told the Fox News Channel: “These Chinese software companies doing business in the United States, whether it’s TikTok or WeChat — there are countless more… are feeding data directly to the Chinese Communist Party, their national security apparatus.”
“Could be their facial recognition patterns. It could be information about their residence, their phone numbers, their friends, who they’re connected to. Those — those are the issues that president Trump has made clear we’re going to take care of,” he said.
Could he actually do it?
Media law expert Zhongdong Niu, a lecturer at Edinburgh Napier University, said: “Of course, every government has the power to ban foreign products. The question is more about whether it is technically or economically viable.”
TikTok is not the first Chinese app to be considered for a ban by the US. In March 2020, popular dating app Grindr was sold by its Chinese owners after a US government committee expressed security concerns about Beijing Kunlun Tech’s ownership of the app.
The US government had revealed back in March 2019 that it had demanded Kunlun sell its ownership of the app – mirroring the calls from Trump to TikTok over similar security fears.
The Verge reports that India has used a ban against TikTok at a network level, blocking any communication between the targeted servers and users in the country – a firewall-like approach that is expected to be mirrored by Australia in the event of a ban. But the US has no precedent for this sort of outright ban, and it’s unlikely that it would follow this route for TikTok.
Instead, it could follow the path set out by Grindr and force ByteDance – TikTok’s Chinese parent company – to sell up in order to allow it to continue operations in the US.
Niu said: “I think TikTok is on a par with Grindr in the sense that it has huge social influence and impact.”
The row over TikTok has been consistently likened to the ban on Huawei, but as Niu points out, there’s a huge difference between an app and an entire technological infrastructure.
He added: “This is not a situation like Huawei, which is very much a strategic asset as part of the telecommunications infrastructure. It is not easy to ban something like Huawei.
“Even the US has not been able to get rid of Huawei wholly, they have given them a timeframe. Huawei products cannot go overnight without disrupting the telecommunications network.”
Here’s where Microsoft could come in
On Saturday it was reported by The New York Times and Fox Business that US-owned tech giant Microsoft is in “advanced talks” to buy the app.
The potential deal would be a victory for both companies, making Microsoft a major player in the social media arena and providing relief to TikTok and its parent company Bytedance from Trump’s sights.
TikTok issued a statement on Friday saying: “While we do not comment on rumours or speculation, we are confident in the long-term success of TikTok.”
On Saturday, it posted a short video from its US general manager Vanessa Pappas, saying: “We’re not planning on going anywhere”.
Microsoft initially declined to comment on the talks, but broke its silence on Sunday when it confirmed that CEO Satya Nadella had been involved in direct talks with Trump – adding that the company was pursuing a ByteDance acquisition for its US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand operations. It is expected that these talks will conclude no later that September 15.
But while initial reports suggested that discussions were at an advanced level, Microsoft have insisted that talks remain in the early stages.
In a statement on the company’s site, a spokesperson wrote: “This new structure would build on the experience TikTok users currently love, while adding world-class security, privacy, and digital safety protections. The operating model for the service would be built to ensure transparency to users as well as appropriate security oversight by governments in these countries.
“Among other measures, Microsoft would ensure that all private data of TikTok’s American users is transferred to and remains in the United States. To the extent that any such data is currently stored or backed-up outside the United States, Microsoft would ensure that this data is deleted from servers outside the country after it is transferred.
“Microsoft appreciates the US government’s and president Trump’s personal involvement as it continues to develop strong security protections for the country.”
What presence does the app have in the UK?
According to data presented by Statista, by December 2019 almost 9% of smartphone users in the UK had TikTok downloaded, and as the platform has become increasingly recognisable it is likely that percentage will have grown.
On Sunday it was reported that TikTok was planning to open a headquarters in London – even as it faced a potential ban across the pond.
Reports in The Sun suggest the UK is set to give the green light to a new headquarters for the service in London, with key executives relocating to the UK as part of the move.
TikTok has so far declined to comment on its plans.
Last month, the app’s head of public policy for Europe, Theo Bertram, denied the company had halted plans for a London HQ because of escalating tensions between the UK and China over Huawei and Hong Kong.
“We are still thinking about what to do about our global HQ and we haven’t made any decision on that yet, and anything else is speculation,” he said.
The Sun reported that with ministers approving the plans for a new headquarters, Boris Johnson could “risk a major row” with Trump over the decision.
Could we see a TikTok ban too?
Just as the US could technically ban the app, so could the UK government – but it is unclear whether or not this would be necessary.
Again, comparisons have been made to the changing picture with Huawei and the complex geopolitical forces that led to the UK eventually following the US’ lead – but TikTok is one app, not an entire telecommunications network.
Fears about whether or not Western countries such as the US could trust Huawei not to monitor communications networks led to Washington banning US firms from doing business with Huawei – for example, designing equipment such as chips.
Crucially, Trump’s administration has demanded that its allies follow suit.
The UK initially resisted, but during talks between the two countries it became clear that pushing ahead with a Huawei relationship could jeopardise post-Brexit US-UK trade discussions, and limit security cooperation in the future.
While data protection issues remain a concern around TikTok, the security implications surrounding Huawei currently run much deeper.
As Niu points out, Trump’s ban on the social media app is likely part of a larger push against a relationship with China. But while the UK government has recently spoken out against China – particularly in the context of Hong Kong and the treatment of Uyghur Muslims – UK markets still have a huge interest in China.
Niu added: “TikTok is not strategically important – I can’t see any point the UK government could make against TikTok, it is just a very popular mobile application.
“There may be the issue of data protection but that is quite a minor concern, and above all the US government hasn’t really pressured the UK on TikTok.
“Diplomatically, the UK operated in a kind of middle ground. A ban on TikTok in the UK would be another blow to the already-strained UK-China relationship and there could be consequences.”
He explained that China had taken a “restrained” approach to the ban on Huawei, in anticipation of the result of the US presidential election. If the US stays on the same path post-November 2020, Niu said: “If there’s clearly no way back, I think they [China] might then do something.”
He added: “As for TikTok, I’m not really convinced the UK government would do anything about it at the moment.
“There’s no political motivation and economically it is bad enough. Diplomatically it could be a really risky manipulation.”