Back in the days before POFMA was a thing, we told ourselves that Singapore won’t ban social media platforms despite the harm they cause.
Thankfully, they were not banned but POFMA was born.
So if you think this will happen in the US as well, you’re wrong because the man who mistook “herd immunity” with “herd mentality” has decided that enough is enough: two days from now, people in the US won’t be able to download TikTok anymore.
The US Commerce Department has just issued an order that’ll bar people from downloading Chinese-owned messaging app WeChat and video-sharing app TikTok starting on Sep 20.
Yes, a double whammy for China, though everyone’s looking at TikTok because the app has 100 million active users in the US; that’s about half of the number of Facebook users in the country.
However, the ban could still be rescinded if TikTok’s owner, ByteDance, can clinch an agreement over its US operations.
Too Slow, Too Late?
After President Trump threatened to ban TikTok by the middle of this month, the app was initially rumoured to be sold to Microsoft, but they’re now in talks with Oracle to manage its US users instead.
One of the possible reasons TikTok has chosen a partnership instead of a sale is that the Chinese government has opposed a sale of TikTok’s US operations, believing a forced sale would make them look weak.
Moreover, Bejing recently updated its export control rules last month, which means it now has a say over the transfer of TikTok to a foreign buyer.
Why is US Banning the App
TikTok has been banned by India, but it’s not because YPs are dancing too much on the app: the country banned dozens of Chinese apps, citing security concerns.
Just think of it as Huawei; there is no real evidence of espionage by the apps except allegations that the apps are “engaging in activities that threatened national security and defence of India.”
Last month, President Trump signed a pair of executive orders that allow the US 45 days to determine what transactions to block from the apps he deemed would pose a national security threat, and of course TikTok has got to be one of the apps. And 45 days would’ve ended on 20 September 2020
However, users who have the app now won’t be banned from using the app after 20 September 2020.
Though let’s face it: chances are, TikTok will be back in the US, and part of it would even be in Singapore:
Read Also: TikTok in Partnership with Oracle Instead & S’pore is Partly Involved
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