TikTok and the Uyghurs: a challenge to the enforcement arm of our own for the public opinion in the United States
Warner says that they saw the enormous bias in TikTok on things such as the Uyghurs, the Hong Kong protests, and the conflict in Gaza. “That was how we got 80 percent of the vote.” The potential for TikTok to be used to shape public opinion is the more serious threat to the security of US user data, according to Warner. Still, lawmakers seem unlikely to do much beyond (maybe) trying to pass a new law should Trump continue to flout the existing one. “Congress,” says Hawley, “we don’t have an enforcement arm of our own.”
It would probably be a good idea to keep your TikTok app updated, even if there was a deal that would delay the law for a while.
The senior editor is following news across tech, culture, policy and entertainment. He joined The Verge in 2021 after several years covering news at Engadget.
The Byte Dance Parent App is Don’t Work: The U.S. Department of Justice is Protected from Foreign Adversary Applications (Preliminary Press Release)
Byte Dance, the Chinese owner of TikTok, has shown no inclination to sell or cut its stake in the company even after a new law took effect last year. After the delay was announced, ByteDance commented publicly on the deal talks for the first time, without specifying what “key matters” needed to be resolved before a potential solution could be reached.
After his inauguration, Trump signed an executive order telling the Attorney General and Department of Justice to “…take no action to enforce the Act or impose any penalties against any entity for any noncompliance with the Act.” With the law on the books after the Supreme Court declined to delay it and with the risk of billions of dollars in penalties, the app could not return to US app stores before they were satisfied by the AG’s assurances.
Three Republican members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, including the chair of the panel, said that a deal should end China’s ability to surveil and potentially manipulate the American people through this app.
Warner, who is the Vice Chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, was more critical in a phone interview. Warner said the whole thing was a sham if Beijing did not let the algorithmic control go to them. “And close to 80 percent of Republicans knew this was a national security threat — will they find their voice now?”
The Supreme Court upheld the original Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Applications Act in January, after it was passed with overwhelming bipartisan support. Many lawmakers don’t believe that TikTok’s defense that China cannot access US user data or the scales of the recommendation feed is true.
Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA), a member of the China Committee who’s criticized the law and warned it will harm free expression and creators’ livelihoods, also wants to see a solution go through Congress, but is seeking a full repeal of the law. Still, he called Trump’s delay a “good step.”
The first coordinated moves to put a firm line in the sand seem to be the new statements from China Committee and E&C Republicans. Some Republicans support a law that calls for a ban on the sale of certain goods. Moolenaar previously warned in an op-ed that an adequate deal must fully break ties with ByteDance after reports that Trump was considering a deal with Oracle that would potentially leave some ties intact. Josh Hawley said that if a deal does not comply with the statute, he would advise the President against it. If he couldn’t get a deal to sell the company in a way that complies, Hawley thinks Trump would impose a ban on the company. This middle way, I don’t think is viable.”
It seemed like TikTok would be decided in the US by April 5th, but everyone came out of the woodwork to purchase it.
People familiar with the matter tell me that, despite all of the bids for the app, the White House was only seriously considering an Oracle-led consortium, which included many of ByteDance’s biggest investors who were set to roll their stakes into a new, US entity.
Larry Ellison was going to use the broad strokes of the Project Texas security proposal he was given by the previous administration to win new business from Oracle, since the current administration doesn’t care about national security threats. TikTok’s investors and employees were finally going to get certainty about the app’s fate. Byte Dance was going to stay in the driver’s seat, and keep its control over its algorithm. The president was going to tell the story of how he saved TikTok.
That is awkward! Less than two weeks after she appeared as the main character in a glossy magazine story about Google’s efforts to beat ChatGPT, Gemini product chief is out (though, in classic Google fashion, apparently finding a role in the company elsewhere). The leader of the Gemini app team is also the founder of the Labs org, which is behind a hit called NotebookLM. While Woodward seems to be generally well-liked inside Google, Hsiao’s reign has been, to put it mildly, controversial.main goal is for the Gemini app to surpass ChatGPT this year. There is pressure being put on.