Is Trump Caving to China on TikTok?

by Gordon G. Chang  •  January 16, 2025 at 5:00 am

  • The law is clear: No third-party service provider, such as Google or Apple, may "distribute, maintain, or update" a "foreign adversary controlled application." The measure designates any app owned by ByteDance, such as TikTok, as such an app.

  • Radio Free Asia reported in August 2020 that a Chinese People's Liberation Army intelligence unit, working out of China's Houston consulate, used big data to identify Americans likely to participate in Black Lives Matter and Antifa protests, and then created and sent them "tailor-made" videos on how to organize riots. Related reporting reveals the videos were TikToks. Fomenting violence in another country is considered an act of war.

  • Moreover, in their Supreme Court brief, TikTok and ByteDance argue this: "No arm of the Chinese government has an ownership stake—directly or indirectly—in TikTok Inc. or ByteDance Ltd." .... the statement does not cover ownership by the Communist Party of China, which is separate from the Chinese government.

  • Articles 7 and 14 of China's 2017 National Intelligence Law require an entity such as ByteDance to commit acts of espionage if so directed by authorities in China. Moreover, the statement ignores the Communist Party's demand that any entity in China, regardless of ownership, obey its dictates.

  • Now, "TikTok refugees" are flocking to another Chinese app, "RedNote," known in China by the characters for "Little Red Book." RedNote, the most downloaded app in Apple's U.S. store, should be treated the same as TikTok.

The law is clear: No third-party service provider, such as Google or Apple, may "distribute, maintain, or update" a "foreign adversary controlled application." The measure designates any app owned by ByteDance, such as TikTok, as such an app. (Photo by Olivier Douliery/AFP via Getty Images)

The Washington Post on January 15 reported that President-elect Donald Trump is thinking of issuing an executive order suspending the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act. The law is often and incorrectly referred to as the "TikTok ban."

Trump has no power to suspend the law by executive order. In any event, a delay in enforcement, even in accordance with the law's provisions, would be a grave mistake.

TikTok, China's ByteDance Ltd. (TikTok's owner) and TikTok creators sought Supreme Court review of the decision in TikTok Inc. v. Garland, issued last month by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, upholding the constitutionality of the measure.

The law is clear: No third-party service provider, such as Google or Apple, may "distribute, maintain, or update" a "foreign adversary controlled application." The measure designates any app owned by ByteDance, such as TikTok, as such an app.

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