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OpinionComment
Edith Yeung
Edith Yeung

Opinion | Attacking TikTok won’t better protect Americans’ data privacy, and Donald Trump knows it

  • Trump’s ban on Chinese apps is a cynical attempt to bolster his election campaign
  • Data security is a huge issue that needs to be tackled, but the US government is skipping the hard work of regulating technology platforms and truly holding them accountable

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Illustration: Craig Stephens
Edith Yeung
President Donald Trump's recent attacks on TikTok are reckless, foolish and dangerous. His actions discredit America and threaten the belief in an open global internet, as well as the spirit of Silicon Valley.
On August 6, the White House issued two executive orders banning transactions with Chinese social media networks TikTok and WeChat in the United States. The White House did not release any evidence for its concerns that Bytedance and Tencent, the owners of the two apps, are breaching security or compromising any user data. On August 14, it added a 90-day deadline pushing Bytedance to divest its US operations.

America used to be the shining white knight of innovation and technology. It was the purveyor of the American dream, freedom of speech, and rule of law. It used to be the fairy godmother. Now it’s the Wicked Witch of the West trying to promote her own political agenda.

Such an aggressive ban on a foreign tech platform on American soil is not a fight for citizens’ data privacy, but rather an abuse of power geared towards influencing the US presidential election. This is in stark contrast to what we have come to expect, even demand, from the leader of the free world.

Instead of enunciating clear and fair principles and enshrining them in law, Trump has bypassed all that hard work and is going for a quick win – something he hopes will bolster his flagging election campaign. This tactic is straight out of a spiteful playbook, and this playbook is not what America is about.

Threatening Chinese companies like Bytedance and Tencent is the wrong way to protect American citizens’ security, data and privacy. The apparent assumption here is that American companies are able to securely collect and store citizens’ data, and it has been proved wrong time and time again.

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