Can we continue to use TikTok as if nothing had happened?
This situation is reminiscent of Prohibition, when alcohol was banned in the United States from 1920 to 1933. A product used by about half of Americans would essentially become illegal.
Of course, other products are in a legal gray area. Cannabis and most e-cigarettes that Americans buy are either not government approved or outright in violation of the law. Certain tinted car windows are prohibited.
In the case of TikTok, we are in a surreal situation. On the one hand, the federal government says TikTok is a threat to Americans and to national security. On the other hand, it doesn’t ask anyone to remove the app from their phone.
“We’re not saying we want Americans not to use TikTok,” the White House spokeswoman said Wednesday, just after the president signed a law declaring that TikTok cannot exist in its current form. currently in the United States.
Who could buy TikTok?
The White House wants TikTok sold to a non-Chinese owner rather than being banned in the United States. Will this sale take place and to whom?
TikTok has announced its intention to challenge the new law in court. So, it may be years before the courts decide whether TikTok’s forced sale and ban is constitutional or not. TikTok and its users will be in limbo all this time.
If Donald Trump is elected president in November, perhaps he will try to prevent the forced sale or ban of TikTok.
Maybe a super-rich individual or Walmart will come forward with a big check to buy TikTok (with or without the secret computer code that allows videos to be tailored to individual tastes).
Perhaps the Chinese government will try to prevent this.
The future of TikTok is unpredictable: it would be risky to bet on what will happen.
Will the government ban other Chinese technologies?
US authorities have not disclosed the exact reasons that make TikTok such a threatening tool, in terms of Chinese data collection and propaganda.
They also did not say whether or not to worry about other Chinese technologies.
Is it safe to shop on Shein and Temu, two popular Chinese apps?
Is it risky to own a Lenovo computer or a Motorola phone, which is owned by Lenovo? Should your child continue to play video games League of Legendscontrolled by the Chinese techno giant Tencent?
Is it normal that almost all of our phones and other electronic devices are made in China?
Will the government ban Chinese-made electric cars or affordable phones that are popular in countries other than the United States?
TikTok may pose a unique risk because many Americans who use it get all their information from an app controlled by a Chinese company.
But with regard to Chinese technologies, the fact remains that the American authorities have not clearly explained what distinguishes those which are dangerous and those which are not.