With TikTok still in flux, caught between assuaging U.S. security concerns and negotiating with Microsoft over an acquisition of some or all of its business, the U.S. has now confirmed that its attack on Chinese apps will not stop there.
Speaking on Wednesday (August 5), Secretary of State Mike Pompeo warned that the administration wanted to see the removal of all “untrusted” Chinese apps from U.S. stores, that it wanted to end China’s ability to collect data on Americans.
“With parent companies based in China,” Pompeo said, “apps like TikTok, WeChat and others are significant threats to the personal data of American citizens.”
This “clean network” program represents the next escalation of a technology standoff between Washington and Beijing that has been steadily escalating for more than a year, but which has reached a new level of intensity in the last month.
In addition to the removal of apps from U.S. stores, Pompeo also said that the government will restrict the freedom for Chinese cloud platforms to operate in the U.S., and there will be limits on apps preinstalled on Chinese handsets.
Pompeo also signalled that, just as with Huawei and likely now with TikTok, the administration will lobby overseas governments to adopt its approach. “We call on all freedom-loving nations and countries to join this clean network,” he said.
Forbes / Balkantimes.press