A hot potato: TikTok, the Chinese app that has surged in popularity in recent years, is on the verge of a critical juncture. The platform, widely favored among Gen Z for video sharing, faces a potential ban in the US, with Europe considering its own measures for censorship.
US President Joe Biden recently signed a bill that will compel ByteDance to either sell TikTok to an American-based venture or face a ban from major mobile app ecosystems. The video hosting network could encounter a similar fate in Europe, where the topic has entered the electoral campaign, spurred by a remark from a German politician.
Ursula von der Leyen has served as the 13th president of the European Commission since 2019 and is currently the lead candidate of the center-right European People’s Party for the 2024 European Parliament elections. When asked about the Biden Administration’s bill regarding a potential TikTok ban, the EU politician commented that a similar censorship attempt against the Chinese-owned network in Europe is “not excluded.”
The European Commission was the “very first institution” to ban TikTok on its corporate smartphones, according to Von der Leyen, as they “know exactly” the danger posed by the app. In an earlier report, it was stated that Von der Leyen has opted to refrain from using TikTok in her campaign for June’s EU elections. The German politician aims to reach European citizens with a new “personal” approach, but TikTok poses too much of a security risk.
TikTok recently halted a reward program for users of the TikTok Lite app after the European Commission initiated an investigation into the app’s potential violation of content moderation rules outlined in the EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA).
Under the new DSA regime, TikTok is also under scrutiny for its alleged failure to provide adequate protections for minors using the app. The EU regulation grants the Commission the authority to force TikTok to suspend its services as a last resort.
While von der Leyen expressed clear willingness to suspend TikTok in Europe, other politicians participating in the same election debate were less certain about a ban. Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann, the lead candidate for the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party in June’s elections, suggested that European institutions should adopt a more pragmatic approach to TikTok’s policies and behavior regarding content moderation.
