Trump’s campaign against TikTok is not about security or free speech – the US is scared of Chinese competition

The US president's threatened crackdown on the popular video sharing app is driven by personal motives which coincide with the agenda of the increasingly influential China, says Vince Cable

Donald Trump is campaigning to ban TikTok in the USA. (EPA)

When 20 Indian soldiers (and several Chinese) were killed on June 15 this year, in a brawl with Chinese troops on a remote Himalayan frontier, the battle – largely fought with fists, sticks and stones – was some way short of World War Three. But it set in train events which are proving to be central to the emerging Cold War between China and assorted adversaries, led by the USA.

In retaliation, India hit on a particular Chinese vulnerability: the large overseas exposure of some of its tech companies. According to 2019 data, India’s 600 million plus internet users download onto their mobile phones 20 billion apps: more downloads than in any other country. Indians are (or were) avid users of some Chinese apps, particularly the video sharing TikTok which is even more popular in India than in China. So, India banned TikTok and other Chinese apps. President Trump has said he will do the same, ramping up conflict with China on economic and political issues to a level not experienced for almost half a century.

For anyone not familiar, TikTok provides 15 to 60 second videos featuring comedy, dance and other performances. Millions love it and the founder, Zhang Yiming, has marketed the app through the company Byte Dance, which last year made $3bn (£2.3) profit. The company claims, almost certainly correctly, that it has no connection with the Chinese authorities and no political agenda: that it is just a successful and popular capitalist enterprise with a Chinese owner (and an ex-Disney CEO).

Trump’s threatened crackdown is partly (or mainly) driven by personal motives which coincide with the agenda of the increasingly influential China “hawks” nesting in what Trump used to call the “swamp”. Together they use the language of “national security” but this is as risible as the French claim in 2005 that their decision to block the foreign takeover of a yoghurt making company, Danone, was rooted in security concerns.

TikTok has simply got under Trump’s notoriously thin skin. Skits circulated on the platform feature a lot of Trump satire. Some of its more mischievous teenage users are said to have humiliated him by flooding the Republican Party with fake RSVPs to come to the president’s campaign rally in Oklahoma. He was duped into claiming a million supporters would attend when, in reality, the stadium was largely empty.

Another key consideration for Trump is the need to keep the right side of Mark Zuckerberg since Facebook political ads will be a key element in the November presidential election. Zuckerberg’s critics claim, fairly or not, that he helped to swing the 2016 election for Trump. TikTok is a serious competitive threat to Facebook; so much so that Facebook is launching its own version of TikTok called Reels, delivered through Instagram. It would be highly convenient if TikTok were to be outlawed or otherwise disappear.

There are other arguments being deployed to give an impression of seriousness. One is an alleged threat to data privacy. The US has used this argument before in forcing another Chinese company (Kulun) to sell its gay dating app, Grindr, on the grounds that it might compromise American soldiers who use it.

It is difficult, however, to imagine that an army of Chinese Communist Party functionaries are ploughing their way through a morass of teenage tittle-tattle in order to invade their privacy. And that assumes that the company is lying when it claims that it stores its data separately from its Chinese operation. Nonetheless, repeating the accusation is helpful in reinforcing the growing paranoia about the Chinese surveillance state coming to get you.

A supporting argument is that the Chinese Communist Party will exercise censorship over content as it does over content on social media in China itself. There are reports, for example, of the authorities excising heavy kissing from videos. It is difficult to see how this could be a serious problem for TikTok. There is, after all, a growing recognition in the Western world of the need to limit “free speech” in social media where content is racist, or pornographic, or might incite hate or terrorism.

In reality, the campaign against TikTok has little to do with security or free speech. The US is rattled by Chinese economic competition. It isn’t just that China has overtaken the US in sheer purchasing power but Chinese companies like Huawei and TikTok are now more technologically advanced than their American competitors. The man who promised to “make America great again” is now making common cause with US businesses and geo-politicians who are spoiling for a Cold War to fight.

For Trump, the practicalities of a ban on TikTok are unimportant. After all, the promised Great Mexican Wall has never happened and never will. Without a brick being laid, it achieved its objective in portraying Trump as the man who would hold back the Latino hordes. But if the president’s rhetoric is serious, a first, key step is instructing Apple and Google to pull the TikTok app from their stores. This would only affect new users, since existing users could migrate to virtual private networks filtering out the US censors – unless they, in turn, are blocked.

A more drastic measure would be to apply a “killer switch” by which Apple and other providers would be instructed to take control of their users’ phones in order to delete TikTok. That might cause problems with Apple in the courts.

The whole issue could disappear if TikTok is spun off or sold to another company outside China. Microsoft has expressed interest in buying it and Trump has apparently now given his blessing. In this way, the Chinese would disappear and the teenagers would keep their app.

The UK has more than a passing interest, having been at the advanced stages of negotiating for TikTok to have its HQ and research facilities here. Such a commitment would have added substance to the slogan of “Global Britain”. Yet it could be forced to give up on TikTok, should the Americans again cry foul as they have over Huawei.

Britain’s misfortune is to be forced to take sides in the New Cold War with the role of cheerleader for the USA. The Johnson government will be privately praying for a Biden victory so that there is some consistency and solidarity in this anti-China alliance. He could prove just as uncompromising but will be much less embarrassing to work with.

I rather fear though that Trump will be with us for a while yet, either winning in November or clinging to power if he loses. The Chinese will be watching the alleged beacons of Western stability with a wry smile. A setback for TikTok would be a small price to pay for four more years of chaotic, corrupt and failing American leadership.