Yes, TikTok sucks. But the rules for tech giants must be better than ‘it’s only bad if China does it’But this time it might eventuate. Last week the US House of Representatives passed a bill that would require TikTok’s China-based parent company, ByteDance, to. Time will tell if it will pass the Senate, but this is the closest the US has come to a national ban since Donal Trump floated the idea four years ago.
This isn’t just an “over there” problem. Over the years Australian politicians and commentators have eagerly jumped onboard the TikTok bandwagon.While it is true that the Chinese government can compel businesses to share information, we should keep in mind that Australiahas legislation designed to sidestep encryption and enable police and security agencies to compel companies to retain data and share information with them.