Is TikTok a threat to global security?
Popular video app’s link to China has US and other countries considering a ban.
On Thursday, July 16 at 19:30 GMT:
How concerned should social media users be about TikTok? The short-form video app – which has gained massive popularity around the world – is being investigated by the US government as a threat to national security and as a tool that could be used for surveillance of millions. The app, whose parent company is based in Beijing, boasts 800 million active users worldwide, and 165 million in the US alone. India recently called TikTok a “threat to sovereignty” and banned it along with 58 other Chinese mobile apps. And the US may soon follow suit as Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced last week that he is looking into blocking Chinese apps including TikTok and WeChat.
US politicians have raised concerns that TikTok could be used by the Chinese government in espionage, blackmail or intellectual property theft. In this episode, we’ll examine the allegations surrounding TikTok and other Chinese tech. Join the conversation.
On this episode of The Stream, we speak to:
Bethany Allen-Ebrahimian, @BethanyAllenEbr
China Reporter, Axios
axios.com/authors/baebrahimian
Matthew Green, @matthew_d_green
Computer Science Associate Professor, Johns Hopkins University
isi.jhu.edu/~mgreen
Varsha Bansal, @VarshaaBansal
Journalist
muckrack.com/varshaabansal
Read more:
Pompeo: US ‘looking at’ banning TikTok and other Chinese apps – Al Jazeera
TikTok distances itself from Beijing in response to India app ban – Al Jazeera