June 29, 2022, 3:14 pm | Read time: 4 minutes
For some time now, the U.S. government has had services and providers from China in its sights. After Huawei, the focus is now on the popular service TikTok. The app could soon disappear from app stores.
Huawei landed on the U.S. “blacklist” back in 2019. The company has not recovered from the subsequent trade embargo to this day. Google apps are still not allowed to be installed on Huawei smartphones. A similar ban, albeit of a different kind, could also affect TikTok. Some voices are calling for the app to be removed from app stores.
Overview
FCC Calls for Ban on TikTok
On TikTok, users share short videos. The app, developed in China, is especially popular among young users worldwide. However, according to an employee of the FCC (Federal Communications Commission), Google and Apple should remove TikTok from the Play Store and App Store. The reason: The app is a very “sophisticated surveillance tool” of the Chinese government. In short, the operators could use the app to monitor users worldwide. The FCC employee is therefore calling for a ban on TikTok.
This is not the first time such a ban has been considered. Back in 2020, the U.S. government extensively examined the app and called for a download stop to prevent its spread. There was even speculation about a purchase of TikTok by Microsoft. Initial negotiations had already taken place. In the end, however, the U.S.-TikTok file went silent. The app also did not disappear from app stores. A U.S. judge blocked the ban on TikTok at that time.
Read also: What is TikTok? The app explained simply
Not Just a Video App, but the Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing
Two years later, voices from the U.S. are once again calling for a ban on TikTok. They express concerns about data protection and freedom of expression. The Chinese government would allegedly force the app’s operators to delete critical posts. Brendan Carr from the FCC therefore calls TikTok “not just another video app. It’s the wolf in sheep’s clothing.”
Carr supports his statement with a report pointing to past cases where TikTok allegedly spied on user data. The app could bypass Android and iOS security measures to access sensitive user data. He also cited TikTok’s 2021 decision to pay $92 million to settle a lawsuit. At that time, TikTok faced dozens of lawsuits, mainly from minors, accusing the company of collecting personal data without consent and selling it to advertisers. Against this backdrop, Carr has called on Apple and Google to remove the app from stores by July 8 or alternatively provide an explanation for why they do not wish to do so.
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No Response Yet from Google and Apple
The two tech giants remain silent. Neither Google nor Apple has issued a statement on the requested ban on TikTok. Unlike with Huawei and the first wave in 2020, the demand to remove TikTok from app stores this time does not come from the U.S. president but from a single FCC employee. He alone signed the letter. The impact of the demand is therefore comparatively low.
TikTok itself is aware of the criticism of the platform and knows about the requested ban. They want to do everything possible to dispel any doubts about the security of U.S. user data. “For this reason, we are hiring experts in their fields, continuously working to validate our security standards, and involving reputable, independent third parties to test our defenses,” say the app’s operators.
Whether the FCC will succeed in banning TikTok remains to be seen. At least with the statement, the next chapter in this book has begun.