Trump

TikTok Strikes Back by Suing the Trump Administration for Ban

Leave a Comment / Tech News / By Athulya

The COVID-19 situation has led to several political and economic issues with certain nations beginning a trade war with China. The US has been very vocal with its displeasure regarding Chinese handling of the health pandemic. This has led to the souring of the economic and political relationship between the two nations. As a result, President Donald Trump stated that certain Chinese products and services would now not be available in the US. Furthermore, the American government has banned Chinese manufacturers from making excessive use of American technology. The most shocking of these moves was the one to ban TikTok in the US. However, reports state that TikTok has sued the Trump Administration for the same. Here’s a look at how the situation played out and what it could mean for the viral video platform.

TikTok Strikes Back

Reports state that the viral video-sharing platform filed a lawsuit on Monday against the executive order brought out by Trump. The lawsuit says that the order does not have enough evidence to deploy such strong measures against the use of the app. The company also states that the imminent ban on the app from September 20th violated its right to function within the US. TikTok has been facing scrutiny from around the world due to its ownership by ByteDance, a Chinese tech company. The lawsuit was filed in the US District Court of California, and lashes back at the executive order that came out on August 6th. It further claims that the executive order did not follow the due procedure or prove that the app was a threat to American security.

Politics, Not Science

TikTok is an immensely popular video sharing platform that boasts of over 100 million users in America. The lawsuit filed by them claims that the company did not get an opportunity to put across their point. Furthermore, the lawsuit states that concerns regarding national security did not have any merit as there is no data to back these claims. The complaint also says that the order holds no value as it is a political stunt rather than an action taken due to fear for national security. The company also wrote that IT experts had rejected the order stating that it was more of a political tool rather than one backed by actual scientific data.

Executive Order by Trump

President Trump’s executive order, if it does come into effect will lead to a ban on American companies to engage or be a part of transactions with ByteDance, the company that owns TikTok. The order said that the data collected by TikTok from American users would help the Chinese Communist Party gain insights into personal details of American citizens. It also blamed the Party for snooping on US citizens, making the application a threat to national security, unless it changes ownership to an American company.

Similar Views in India

The executive order came right after India banned TikTok in June, along with another 58 Chinese applications. India too had cited national integrity and security as reasons for banning the application. However, TikTok has vehemently denied both these claims and says that it has no ties with the Chinese government. Furthermore, TikTok also refuted claims that it always censored content that was critical of the Chinese system or government. However, CIA analysts reported to the White House that the Chinese Intelligence services could exploit the data that TikTok possesses.

Global Interest

TikTok had also put out a blog earlier this month wherein it called Trump’s order a political move that undermines global companies, and their trust in the US. However, as a result of these events, tech giant Microsoft had expressed an interest to purchase TikTok’s American, Canadian, Australian and New Zealand divisions. But the deal by Microsoft requires the acquisition to happen before September 15th, which is the date the order comes into effect.

The Wall Street Journal also reported that Twitter was in talks to acquire the video platform, but that chances of the deal happening were low. While Apple denied having any interest, Alphabet, which owns Google too had expressed an early interest. However, as of now, there is no confirmation or signs that any of these talks have gotten very far. Also, the filing of this lawsuit shows that TikTok wants to preserve its identity, rather than selling out to an American company. It will be interesting to see whether the American courts take the lawsuit seriously, owing to how the order comes directly from the President.

Athulya

Being a cinephile with a love for all things outdoorsy, Athulya never misses a chance to chase inspiring stories or poke fun at things, even when the subject is herself. Currently pursuing a degree in mechanical engineering, she is someone innately interested in technical and scientific research. Music reviews and op-eds define her as they allow her to explore different perspectives. Though sometimes she thinks she makes more sense playing the guitar than she does while writing.

Trump bans Chinese apps like Tik Tok and WeChat to safeguard America’s assets

Leave a Comment / Tech News / By Annasha

To assure national security and prevent the collection of data and personal information of Americans by the Chinese companies, Trump finally announced the ban of a few most common Chinese apps. According to the announcement on Thursday, the Chinese video-sharing app, Tik Tok, and another Chinese app WeChat will be banned in the U.S.

Imposing a ban within 45 days

In response to the miserable and horrendous consequences of the pandemic which spread from the Wuhan city of China, many nations have turned against this Asian country. A month ago, India banned the Chinese apps and now Trump is making efforts to stop the intervention of these “untrusted” Chinese companies. Trump further said that it is an effort to keep the U.S. digital network safe from “significant threats” as Tik Tok is charged with data collection. The tension between Washington and Beijing keeps on increasing and will become more intensified in the upcoming 45 days.

Trump imposed the ban on these Chinese apps under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. This law can be used in case of any unusual and extraordinary threat thus giving power to the president of the United States to regulate international commerce. Mike Pompeo, US Secretary of State, mentioned that the US will be focusing on the expansion of a clean network thus preventing the Chinese telecom companies to fetch sensitive information as well. Wilbur Ross, US Commerce Secretary, will be in charge of identifying the transactions after the order comes into effect from mid-September.

Tension keeps on increasing

Not only the American government has ordered China to vacate its consulate from Houston, Texas but also the Chinese government has reciprocated by ordering the U.S. to vacate from the southwestern city of Chengdu. James Lewis, a technology expert based on Washington in response to the imposed ban said that it will demolish the digital world between the U.S. and China. And, the American government should be very cautious as China will retaliate and not sit silently.

Trump also mentioned that the operation of Tik Tok in the U.S. will be sold to Microsoft is the U.S. government gets a part of the sales price. But, no matter what the Chinese apps will be banned in the U.S. on 15th September 2020.

Expansion of the Clean Network

The clean network is a program under Trump’s administration to protect the privacy of American citizens and prevent leaking of sensitive information about the nation. The program clearly states that it guards the nation’s important information against intruders like the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). On 5th August 2020, five new lines of effort were announced by the United States.

Clean Carrier: This new effort was to ensure that there is no relation or connection between the People’s Republic of China and the U.S. telecommunications network. It is for the safety of the nation that those companies should not carry any kind of telecommunication services to and from the nation.
Clean Store: This step was taken to eradicate the untrusted Chinese application from the U.S. mobile app store.
Clean Apps: The trusted apps should be removed from Huawei’s app store and also prevent it from pre-installing in the smartphone.
Clean Cloud: This is one of the most important new installations in the Clean Network as sensitive information about the vaccines and researches regarding COVID-19 are stored on cloud-based systems.
Clean Cable: The U.S. will work with foreign partners to make sure the undersea cables are not compromised.

The outrage of Tik Tok lovers

But apart from ensuring the safety of the U.S. citizens, the ban of Tik Tok has not been taken positively. There are around 100 million Americans who use Tik Tok and they have voiced against banning the app. But, to prevent theft of information that can destroy a nation, it’s high time to take a big step against China.

Annasha

Annasha Dey is an NIT student, who apart from studying engineering is also a content writer. She has a great interest in photography, writing, reading novels, and travelling as well. She is a foodie who loves socializing and hanging out with her friends. She is also a trained Kathak dancer and a big fashion enthusiast. Dey also loves watching TV series, which includes F.R.I.E.N.D.S. and Big Bang Theory. To be a better writer she prefers to read more

Facebook Employees Protest Over Company’s Handling of Trump’s Inflammatory Posts

The U.S. has been set ablaze by protests concerning the brutal killing of African American George Floyd. The country has been burning due to these protests for almost a week now, and several celebrities and companies have come out in support of the movement. The protests stand in solidarity with the #BlackLivesMatter campaign, calling for more action against systemic racism. Amidst all this, President Trump has been admonished for posting inflammatory tweets and comments. AS per a New York Times report, dozens of Facebook employees are protesting to challenge the company’s response to these posts by the President. Read on to know more about what’s happening and why it is important.

People Against Trump

Several Facebook employees decided to do a virtual walkout to show their disagreement with how the company is handling Trump’s posts. These employees asked for time-offs and even signed out with out-of-office responses to work emails as a sign of protest. They also notified senders that they were protesting against the company’s stand toward the President’s posts. Facebook acknowledged the walkout and said that it will not ask employees to apply their paid time off.

Trump’s Inflammatory Posts

The issue began to build when after last week’s killing of an unarmed black man, Floyd, Trump stated, “when the looting starts, the shooting starts.” He posted the same on both Twitter and Facebook, through his official handles. The statement has a very racially prominent history, as in the 1960s, it was used by white policemen during the civil unrest in Miami. The President later stated that he did not know about the history of the phrase. Twitter was quick in reporting the tweet by stating that it went against the platform’s guidelines. As the tweet glorified violence, it was tagged as being offensive and then reported.

Facebook’s Stand

Unlike Twitter, however, Facebook took a different stand by doing nothing! CEO Mark Zuckerberg stated that their policy allowed discussion regarding the use of force. He went on to state that the situation calls for a questioning of the limits of such discussions. He justified not taking action against the Donald J. Trump post by stating that people had to know that the government would use force. Just last week, the White House announced that it would try to punish social media platforms for curtailing the right to freedom of expression. This came as a direct result of Twitter fact-checking the President’s tweets. Soon after, Zuckerberg contrasted and compared the policies of Twitter and Facebook. On a Fox News interview, Zuckerberg spoke out against platforms that acted as the “arbiter of truth” for things individuals said online.

Further Moves

Employees have also created and shared petitions that request Facebook to add more diversity to their positions. Some have even gone far enough to threaten the CEO with their resignation unless he rethinks his stance. A handful even spoke out against Facebook on Twitter, including Head of Portal Design Andrew Crow. He stated that allowing the platform to incite violence is unacceptable, whoever the individual who posts is. Surprisingly, the company has permitted internal unrest to spew into the open, something that has rarely happened in the past. While other tech platforms have faced the ire of employees for their political opinions, Facebook seemed to keep grievances within their walls. However, with this move, the company has alienated even top brass, such as Director of Product Management, Jason Toff. He, too, took to Twitter to say that he was “not proud” of how the company was behaving. An Instagram employee, Katie Zhu, said that she was “ashamed” at how the company is acting.

Zuckerberg responded by declaring that the company would donate $10 million for fighting racial injustice in the U.S. The post regarding the same said that the company allowed employees to show their dissent. It also claimed that Facebook would always seek their feedback and try to grow in the process. It will be interesting to see whether the company now rethink their stands and make amends, or continue with the same principles.