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The clock stops (TikTok)

The USA has gone through with its threat to ban TikTok within its borders.

Those seeking to download the TikTok app from within the USA will find that it is no longer available and existing US users were met with a simple message that said (and I paraphrase) "Sorry, not available but we hope new President Trump will fix that".

There was actually no mandate for TikTok to block access to its service for US users but they chose to do so, clearly as an attempt to highlight the situation and place pressure on the incoming president to follow-up on the suggestions he made that he might revisit the ban made by the outgoing government.

Right now however, things are a mess.

Since I'm not a TikTok user (life is way too short) and because I do not live in the USA, this doesn't affect me. However...

A lot of Americans are already outraged that their government would effectively silence their voices and destroy what have, for some, been a lucrative way to make money.

There are claims that this ban breaches the constitutionally protected right to free speech. However, the US government claims that national security always trumps (no pun intended) The Constitution.

As if to demonstrate how good the internet is at diverting around damage and censorship, many TikTok users are now switching to another alternative platform, also run out of China, as I reported in my Whackamole column from last week.

Is there sufficient publicly available evidence to support the claims that TikTok is a threat to the USA's national security?

Many would argue not.

It's also a worrisome fact that many younger people don't value their privacy in the way that previous generations did. They think nothing of divulging their every secret by way of social media interactions and see nothing wrong with the potential for that data to be stored and mined by a foreign power. Such is the world these days.

I find it fascinating that China seems to be taking quite a "well stuff you then" stance when it comes to dealing with US restrictions and bans.

For instance, now that the US government is working on a ban on DJI products (such as drones), that company has responded by turning off the safety feature called geofencing that stopped its drones from being flown around critical infrastructure, airports and the like. That move has the potential to cause mayhem across the country, as idiots with drones could, either deliberately or inadvertently, disrupt air traffic and cause security alerts.

Now TikTok's move to suspend its service to US users, even though it didn't have to, is a further sign that it's not going to simply lie back and take it. They know that this move will anger millions of people across the country and their ire will likely be expressed to the incoming government.

Now I wonder how the Chinese will eventually respond to the 100 percent tariffs that are being imposed on their EVs?

"May you live in interesting times?"

Carpe Diem folks!

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