Apparently they threaten national security.
The app war between China and the USA continues with bans. In response to American threats (which are becoming very concrete) regarding a hypothetical ban TikTokaccused of stealing personal data from US users and “selling it” to Beijing, China has forced Apple to remove both Whatsapp That Threads. The motivation is not very credible: threat to national security.
Ban you and I’ll ban too
The China-US tug of war over social networks is inspired by the United States’ concern over the spread of the TikTok app among young people. The social network owned by the Chinese company ByteDance has quickly established itself as the favorite platform for teenagers, and has caused some concern in Congress – perhaps more of an economic nature than of actual privacy, as it is claimed. Be that as it may, the American government is tightening the noose around TikTokhaving called its CEO to audition several times and animatedly discussing his possible ban throughout the country week after week.
In reality, the most credible solution is to nationalize the app, with a move that could force ByteDance to sell it to an ad hoc US company. The official reason for all this, however, concerns the security of the personal data of American citizens registered on the social network, data which, according to the Chinese app’s detractors, would be collected to spy on Americans and resell the information to Chinese intelligence under the table. Beijing. Although this accusation has never been proven, it is a narrative that has been around in the USA for some time and could effectively result in the nationalization of TikTok.
In response, China decided to block two famous Western social networks on the Chinese market.
Bao for focaccia
About ten days ago, as reported by the main English-speaking newspapers, Apple was forced by the Chinese government to remove WhatsApp and Threads from its store, two of the most popular instant messaging/social networking software in circulation today and both owned by Meta, the holding company led by Mark Zuckerberg based in California. Apple said it received the removal order from the Cyberspace Administration of China, and had no choice but to follow Beijing’s orders to the letter.
The reasons for the decision, that is, a generic and honestly implausible one threat to national security, seems nothing more than a retaliation for what is happening in the USA, as if to say: be careful, if you take away TikTok from us, we will take away WhatsApp and Meta. The interests at stake are essentially economic, and China has demonstrated numerous times in the past that it is willing to take strong measures without second thoughts in order to reiterate its positions; furthermore, the Chinese government cannot afford to be perceived as weak or incapable of reacting to the threat of having ownership of one of its social media platforms used throughout the world “stolen” overnight.
All eyes therefore focused on the next moves of the American Congress, on whose actions the fate of Western social networks in China will undoubtedly depend.
