Once again, it is time to discuss TikTok. On Friday, 19 September, President Donald Trump and Chinese Leader Xi Jinping discussed trade negotiations and TikTok for the first time in three months.
The app has now become more than just a front for the ‘battle of the jeans’; it is now the proxy battlefield for two of the world’s largest economies.
Superficially, the American debate centres on national security. Lawmakers fear that Chinese law could compel ByteDance to hand over data of the 170 million U.S. users. Others dwell on the potential risk of influence – of Chinese ideals ‘infiltrating’ the country, and shaping their for-you pages.
Is this a techno war? For years, the United States has dominated consumer technology exporting platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube to billions of users abroad. TikTok has strayed away from this sequence. Its algorithm has remained undefeated, glueing its users to their screens. Could China now dominate cultural export through platforms like TikTok while simultaneously winning over the masses?
Technological successes almost always blend into trade politics. For Washington, TikTok has become a convenient bargaining chip in broader negotiations. Limiting or banning the app exerts pressure on Beijing just as tariffs, semiconductor controls, and investment restrictions do.
Beijing’s response? Emphasising corporate autonomy and the sanctity of “market rules” was less about the social media platform and more about sovereignty itself. If America has a say in the terms of one Chinese firm, where do we draw the line? Conversely, Xi Jinping’s insistence on ByteDance being treated on an equal footing just like any other multinational company is a way of asserting its claim and dominance as global players rivalling their American counterparts.
This weekend, the White House added another layer to the drama. Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt announced that any deal would require TikTok’s U.S. operations to be overseen by a new American-majority board. “There will be seven seats on the board that controls the app in the United States, and six of those seats will be Americans,” she told Fox News.
Is this a concession for China and a well overdue safety measure for the USA?
Similarly, this renewed diplomacy with TikTok at its centre also highlights the fragility of the current moment. The delegation of American lawmakers to Beijing last weekend, the first visit since the COVID-19 pandemic in 2019, was framed by both sides as an initiative toward ‘breaking the ice’ as the origins of the pandemic had frozen communication. By reaching some sort of accord and understanding, both countries may finally be able to manage deeper trade frictions.
Alas, this may not be the time to be optimistic. Even if TikTok survives in the United States, the underlying forces of tension remain: China exporting competitive technology, American agitation over losing its edge, and the rise of an era where digital platforms are weapons of power.
For ordinary users of the app, this dispute may seem unclear and bemusing. For policymakers, however, this has now become the microcosm of the 21st-century contest: who controls data, who dominates narrative and who has jurisdiction over global commerce. We are now watching the world’s most consequential rivalry from the comfort of our bedrooms.
The 20th century was fought in space; the 21st is fought online.
“President Trump’s First 100 Days: 70” by The White House is marked with Public Domain Mark 1.0.
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TikTok: The Frontlines of a New Cold War?
Once again, it is time to discuss TikTok. On Friday, 19 September, President Donald Trump and Chinese Leader Xi Jinping discussed trade negotiations and TikTok for the first time in three months.
The app has now become more than just a front for the ‘battle of the jeans’; it is now the proxy battlefield for two of the world’s largest economies.
Superficially, the American debate centres on national security. Lawmakers fear that Chinese law could compel ByteDance to hand over data of the 170 million U.S. users. Others dwell on the potential risk of influence – of Chinese ideals ‘infiltrating’ the country, and shaping their for-you pages.
Is this a techno war? For years, the United States has dominated consumer technology exporting platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube to billions of users abroad. TikTok has strayed away from this sequence. Its algorithm has remained undefeated, glueing its users to their screens. Could China now dominate cultural export through platforms like TikTok while simultaneously winning over the masses?
Technological successes almost always blend into trade politics. For Washington, TikTok has become a convenient bargaining chip in broader negotiations. Limiting or banning the app exerts pressure on Beijing just as tariffs, semiconductor controls, and investment restrictions do.
Beijing’s response? Emphasising corporate autonomy and the sanctity of “market rules” was less about the social media platform and more about sovereignty itself. If America has a say in the terms of one Chinese firm, where do we draw the line? Conversely, Xi Jinping’s insistence on ByteDance being treated on an equal footing just like any other multinational company is a way of asserting its claim and dominance as global players rivalling their American counterparts.
This weekend, the White House added another layer to the drama. Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt announced that any deal would require TikTok’s U.S. operations to be overseen by a new American-majority board. “There will be seven seats on the board that controls the app in the United States, and six of those seats will be Americans,” she told Fox News.
Is this a concession for China and a well overdue safety measure for the USA?
Similarly, this renewed diplomacy with TikTok at its centre also highlights the fragility of the current moment. The delegation of American lawmakers to Beijing last weekend, the first visit since the COVID-19 pandemic in 2019, was framed by both sides as an initiative toward ‘breaking the ice’ as the origins of the pandemic had frozen communication. By reaching some sort of accord and understanding, both countries may finally be able to manage deeper trade frictions.
Alas, this may not be the time to be optimistic. Even if TikTok survives in the United States, the underlying forces of tension remain: China exporting competitive technology, American agitation over losing its edge, and the rise of an era where digital platforms are weapons of power.
For ordinary users of the app, this dispute may seem unclear and bemusing. For policymakers, however, this has now become the microcosm of the 21st-century contest: who controls data, who dominates narrative and who has jurisdiction over global commerce. We are now watching the world’s most consequential rivalry from the comfort of our bedrooms.
The 20th century was fought in space; the 21st is fought online.
“President Trump’s First 100 Days: 70” by The White House is marked with Public Domain Mark 1.0.
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