The Real Reason for a Country to Ban Social Networks
Recently, TikTok is facing severe political risks in the US and India. The US government is concerned the Chinese government might get personal information about US citizens. On July 20, the US House of Representatives voted to bar the use of TikTok on all government-issued phones. Also, in June, the Indian government banned 59 Chinese APP, including TikTok, because these services “prejudicial to the sovereignty and integrity of India, defense of India, security of state and public order.”
The “real” reason
Based on the US and Indian governments’ statements, the primary reason to ban these APP is to protect their country and citizens. However, according to the overall context, I do not think security is the reason. In 2019, TikTok posted a blog to explain that all US user data was stored in the US with a backup in Singapore. The Chinese government has never ask TikTok to remove any content, and they would not do so if asked. Also, TikTok operates separately from ByteDance, and its CEO is from the US. Besides, The investigation of TikTok for national security concerns was first reported in November 2019. After nine months, the US government still cannot explain why TikTok threatens US security. Trump mentioned another potential reason to ban TikTok on July 6, punishing China for its response to the coronavirus. For Indian, the decision to ban Chinese APPs was after the clash with Chinese troops along a disputed border in the Himalayas. The truth is obvious; the banned social networks are innocent. Governments are using these APPs to warn China.
“Have the right” vs. “have the ability”
When polices find a suspicious case, what should they do? Based on our logic and knowledge, they should do research first and try to find evidence. Then, according to evidence they see, they can arrest suspects. However, these governments break the order and “arrest” social networks without enough evidence. In a democratic country, this is unfair because companies have the right to do business as long as they are legal; and the government in a democracy does not have the right to ban social networks without enough evidence. They think they have the ability to do that. In my opinion, their capacity is limited because democratic countries cannot control citizens and companies to do what they do not want to do. If they can and require people to wire masks, the US epidemic situation would not be the worst.
