Wow, regulators really seem hellbent on banning TikTok in the US, but at least it’s on good grounds. As mentioned by the FCC Commissioner, India supposedly set an “incredibly important precedent” when it banned TikTok two and a half years ago. The FCC’s Commissioner Brendan Carr projects a similar fate for the app in the US, warning that TikTok “operates as a sophisticated surveillance tool”, telling the Indian daily Economic Times that banning the social app is a natural next step to secure the communication network.
A Key Ban
Carr mentions that he’s worried that China could use sensitive and non-public data gleaned from TikTok to further its various agendas, including espionage, foreign influence campaigns, various forms of exploitation, and more. Carr reiterates:
“We need to follow India’s lead more broadly to weed out other nefarious apps as well.”
Carr’s statements further illustrate the growing push among US lawmakers that are growing ever more suspicious of TikTok, which now has hundreds of millions of American users.
On that note, India has banned hundreds of apps, including TikTok, PUBG Mobile, Battlegrounds Mobile India, and UC Browser, that have even the smallest semblance of affiliation to China in the past two years amid skirmishes at the border of the two neighbors. New Delhi said that it had banned the apps because they were posted as ‘threats’ to national security. Yes, doing the dumb milk crate challenge can devastate entire populations.
Before the ban, as with most apps that catch fire in India, TikTok had amassed over 200 million monthly active users, making India its former largest market. As Carr had explained (via The Indian paper):
“India’s strong leadership has been informative and helpful as we have debated banning TikTok in the US. For those who argue that there is no way to ban an app, India is an example of a country that has done it and done it successfully.”
The Wrap
The US Government is so keen on outlawing TikTok that the US House has banned it on all House-managed devices about 2 weeks ago, citing a “high risk due to a number of security issues.” The move followed nearly 2 dozen states to at least partially block the app from state-managed devices over concern that China could use it to track Americans and censor content.
In short, the first steps towards an eventual full TikTok ban have been made, though whether or not TikTok will be banned even from the general populace is all but definitive.
Please note:
This action will also remove this member from your connections and send a report to the site admin.
Please allow a few minutes for this process to complete.
