Is the Ban Hammer Coming for Tik-Tok?

In a recent statement from an FCC Commissioner is pressuring both Apple and Google to ban TikTok. But the question remains — will the two tech giants do so? In this article, GCTV covers the woes associated with Tik-Tok and its struggle in the American Market, let's dive in! 

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Brendan Carr, commissioner from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), wrote a letter calling the popular video-sharing app “an unacceptable security risk.”

For this reason, Carr is pushing Apple and Google to remove TikTok from both of their app stores. 

“TIKTOK IS OWNED BY BEIJING-BASED BYTEDANCE — AN ORGANIZATION THAT IS BEHOLDEN TO THE COMMUNIST PARTY OF CHINA AND REQUIRED BY THE CHINESE LAW TO COMPLY WITH PRC’S SURVEILLANCE DEMANDS.”

(Excerpt from the FCC letter)

TikTok has been criticized in the past, but this scrutiny comes from a BuzzFeed News article published on June 17, 2022. 

Will server access and security concerns result in Google and Apple banning TikTok?

This is not the first time that TikTok has been in danger of being eliminated from Apple and Google. It has had very public problems regarding the security of its users’ information. 

Notably, former U.S. President Trump rallied against the billion-user strong app in 2020.

Earlier this year, they settled a series of lawsuits for $92 million. The lawsuits allege the China-based company passed user information on to their government. 

As a result of this, TikTok transferred access to American users’ data to Oracle this June. The Oracle server company is based in the United States. 

However, according to the aforementioned BuzzFeed News article, employees of ByteDance stated the location of the server doesn’t matter. China would still have access to the information.

This was the catalyst for Carr’s letter. 

“[TIKTOK] WILL GLADLY ENGAGE WITH LAWMAKERS TO SET THE RECORD STRAIGHT REGARDING BUZZFEED‘S MISLEADING REPORTING.”

(TikTok statement / Billboard)

In the end, whether Google and Apple will ban TikTok is yet to be determined.

At the time of the writing of this article, neither of the companies have responded to the FCC commissioner’s letter.

Google and Apple have not commented on the matter. They would have to voluntarily comply with the request since the FCC has no jurisdiction over internet-based services.

Unlisting TikTok would also not stop users from downloading it. Apps can be installed on both iPhone and Android devices from sites other than the official app stores.

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