As a baby boomer, I’m not TikTok’s target audience. I downloaded the app for a work project some time ago. Its short little video posts bubbled with creativity, humor, candor and intelligence. And then President Donald Trump decided to ban it in the name of national security.
Trump’s U.S. TikTok and WeChat bans are broad and dangerous. If Trump can use “national security” reasons for a technology ban, other products and industries may follow.
The executive order bans downloads or updates of the two apps after 11:59 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 20. The Chinese owner ByteDance Ltd. and potential U.S. partner Oracle Corp. may find a way to preempt a TikTok ban if they can separate it from China’s control. The U.S. is allowing U.S.-based web hosting through Nov. 12 for the apps.
This is the second technology to be banned by the Trump administration. In May of 2019, he banned China-based Huawei’s 5G technology through a broad executive order. But it’s the TikTok ban that will cause the most grief.
Trump’s executive order argues that TikTok collects “vast swaths of information.” This includes location data, browsing and search history and other personal data. It says TikTok can act as a platform for disinformation, conspiracy theories and the like. It warns that TikTok can “track the locations of Federal employees and contractors.”
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