TikTok is a social media application that is primarily intended for entertainment and is especially popular among teenagers. Nevertheless, the U.S. President has declared TikTok a risk to U.S. national security. The American government accuses Bytedance, the Chinese parent company of TikTok, of passing on user data to the Chinese authorities. Bytedance rejects the accusations. TikTok is to be banned in the USA if the company is not sold. Potential buyers include Microsoft, Oracle and Walmart. Due to the global dominance of Apple and Google operating systems, a ban of TikTok in the U.S. would probably have worldwide implications.
On September 22, the Freunde des ACG hosted a virtual discussion with Christoph Keese, CEO of Axel Springer hy GmbH, and John Lee, Senior Analyst at Mercator Institute for China Studies (MERICS).