Short Takes — 11

On the TikTok Panic.

American hypocrisy and racism is on display for the world to see.

So,

In the US we are having a major meltdown over the fact that one of the most popular social media apps in the world is not “made in the USA”. Absolutely no evidence has been presented that TikTok is in any way a “security risk” but a TikTok ban in the US is becoming more and more likely.

US cyber spymaster calls TikTok China’s ‘Trojan horse’

TikTok is China’s “Trojan horse,” according to Rob Joyce, who heads the cyber security unit of America’s National Security Agency.

This is a serious accusation. If another country declared that Facebook, or Instagram, or Meta, or Google, or Youtube, or any of the other top social media companies was a “trojan horse” and banned it. The US would retaliate against them.

Notice something interesting about this list. All of the top 10 social media companies are US based except for TikTok.

Joyce, speaking at the Silverado Policy Accelerator’s conference on Monday, called TikTok “a strategic issue.” What does he mean by that, what’s his evidence?

Is China using TikTok to attack the US?

Well, no. But it’s not about what they are doing, it’s about what they “could” do.