The United States is pushing the law that would force ByteDance, the Chinese company that owns TikTok, to sell its shares to non-Chinese shareholders or see the App banned from American soil and smartphones. Sell or close, basically.
On Saturday the House will vote on the aid package for Israel and Ukraine, within which it was also included the norm on TikTok, with one change: instead of six months, the company would have up to a year to find possible buyers. If the United States is ready for a bipartisan law to take control of the platform away from the Chinese government (as much as TikTok may deny, all Chinese companies, by law, are subject to the control and direction of Beijing), What does Europe, and in particular Italy, do? Adnkronos contacted Senator Giulio Terzi of Sant’Agatapresident of the Senate EU Policies Committee.
“TikTok is one of the most dangerous and risky platforms“, begins Terzi, “not only for the harmful impact on young people, now demonstrated, but because it depends on the Chinese regime and does not guarantee any type of reliability. It is used by Russia and China to push propaganda that pollutes our public debate, particularly on issues related to Ukraine and Gaza. Yesterday, Minister Antonio Tajani and Secretary of State Antony Blinken signed a fundamental Memorandum of Understanding between the Italian and American governments, precisely to combat disinformation and foreign information manipulation. If the United States, our ally in NATO, prepares a law that forces TikTok to be disinvested by Chinese shareholders, I believe that Europe must act as soon as possible to coordinate decisive action to protect our democratic process”, continues the Senator Terzi.
“I know from Silicon Valley experts, who have analyzed data and brought very clear evidence, that China has hired hundreds of European and American influencers, each with tens of thousands of followers, to push its anti-Western vision. TikTok is a very widespread app, but this time politics (for now only American) does not give in to the ‘belly’ of citizens but puts their mental well-being and respect for freedom and the rule of law first”, concludes Terzi.
“TikTok has evidently become a piece in the hybrid war between global powers”
“The recent acceleration of the passage of the American law to ban TikTokunless the Chinese ownership sells the shares, it must be taken into serious consideration and highlights the complexity of the current geopolitical situation”, he says Senator Enrico Borghi spoke to Adnkronos, group leader of Italia Viva as well as member of Copasir, the bicameral intelligence control committee. “TikTok has evidently become a piece in the hybrid war between global powers and I believe that the warnings coming from the United States and Europe cannot be ignored, although the implications of such decisions on freedom of expression and business need to be carefully considered “, concludes Borghi.
The American norm and TikTok’s response
The Senate, so far hesitant on the trap regarding the App, used by 170 million Americans, should quickly vote on the package with the ban on the video platform from the United States, and President Joe Biden has promised to sign everything immediately. In recent weeks the company’s lobbying activity has been incessant. Many users have been bombarded with messages on the app encouraging them to protest to lawmakers over the proposed law, which gives ByteDance, the company that controls TikTok, almost a year (it was six months in an initial version) to find shareholders not based in China to sell their shares to. One of the potential buyers who was putting together a consortium is former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. National security experts consider TikTok to be a propaganda and massive data collection tool for use by the Chinese government.
TikTok, in a post on 7 million businesses and it would close a platform.”