THE US LEGISLATION requiring the sale or ban of the ByteDance-owned short-form video app TikTok in the United States is heading to President Joe Biden’s desk for signature into law. It passed the US Senate on April 23.
At the same time, Chinese authorities have ordered the removal of various US-owned social media applications from local app stores.
On April 19, the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) ordered Apple to remove Meta’s WhatsApp and Threads apps and the Signal and Telegram messaging apps from its app store in China, citing national security concerns.
Reportedly, Beijing said Meta’s apps carried content about President Xi Jinping that it deemed inflammatory and breached China’s cybersecurity legislation.
China has long used the Great Firewall to block the services of the US platform tech giants such as Facebook and Instagram. However, users have been able to download WhatsApp and use it via a virtual private network (VPN) to access content that is outlawed in China.
The market share of all four of the newly proscribed apps is small within China, and there is little doubt that the CAC’s action is politically motivated retaliation for the US move against TikTok.
However, it also follows a pattern of Chinese authorities closing loopholes in the Great Firewall and tightening controls across digital media. Mobile app developers have been required to register with authorities since last summer. Beyond apps, websites and AI models have also been subject to greater content curbs, particularly politically sensitive information.
Apple is likely to be criticized in the United States for complying with the CAC order but argues that it had little choice legally but to comply. ‘We are obligated to follow the laws in the countries where we operate, even when we disagree,’ the company said in a statement.
However, like other Western multinationals that source from China or sell into its domestic market, it is being edged one step closer to having to choose sides.
China Bystander 