Fears about the global Internet ecosystem intensified this week with Trump's executive orders banning the popular video app TikTok and Chinese social network WeChat . — Martin Bureau/AFPA ban by President Donald Trump's administration on Chinese mobile apps such as TikTok and WeChat risks fragmenting an already fragile global Internet and creating an American version of China's"Great Firewall".
"It's really an attempt to fragment the Internet and the global information society along US and Chinese lines, and shut China out of the information economy," said Milton Mueller, a Georgia Tech University professor and founder of the Internet Governance Project. His actions follow a"Clean Network" directive from the US State Department that would bar"untrusted" apps and services from China from being used by American carriers and installed on devices in the United States.
"This is really a Chinese idea, that has the right to separate itself from the global Internet by banning or limiting foreign technology," Segal said.Segal noted that the global Internet has been"on shaky ground" amid moves in Russia, India and other countries to limit data flows. "The United States should be careful about arguing that there is an inherent national security risk of using technologies from foreign companies," Castro said.