Who wants to ban TikTok and why?

The well-known Chinese application TikTok, popular with young people – used by 1.2 billion people worldwide – is being targeted by the United States. US Congressmen, both Democrat and Republican, are preparing to vote to ban it in the United States on the pretext of « national security« . A ban supported by both Biden and Trump.

Will the European Union follow Washington’s lead? Already in France, the Chief of Staff of the armed forces has fallen into line, declaring to the Parliament: « The TikTok application (…) is an informational weapon » (opex360.com, 16 March).

The US is stepping up its campaigns against China and its goods, under the pretext of « national security« . We all remember a « Chinese spy balloon » that flew over the United States. However, a few months later, Washington quietly owned that it was a weather balloon…, which couldn’t spy on anything at all! Previously, Trump had banned phones made by the Huawei Chinese brand on the same pretext of spying.

Pressures on China are mounting. Not to mention the risk of military escalation in the China Sea, where US aircraft carriers and other NATO warships are currently cruising off the Chinese coast.

Why such pressure? The answer was given in December 2023 by US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, who has “urged China to shift from (its) unfair state-driven approach in economic policy”.

AlainDenizo