White House set to entirely ban TikTok from App Store

AppleInsider · August 12, 2020 10:22AM

A new document clarifying the Administration's plans says that companies such as Apple and Google may be required to remove TikTok even from their App Stores in China.

TikTok faces a worldwide ban in the App Store and Google Play Store

Following President Trump's Executive Order banning TikTok and WeChat from September 20, a new White House report seeks to clarify precisely what the ban entails. The document is not a final plan, but it was reportedly sent out to supporters of the Administration and of the ban.

According to Reuters, the new White House document says that the ban is aimed at disrupting TikTok's funding, as well as its use within the United States. While TikTok is named in the document, its scope is about US business transactions with it and other similar companies.

"Prohibited transactions may include, for example, agreements to make the TikTok app available on app stores." it says, "[plus] purchasing advertising on TikTok, and accepting terms of service to download the TikTok app onto a user device."

This document was reportedly written last week, as was the more vaguely-worded Executive Order. While the new details do not tie the government down to specifics yet, it is an indication that a complete app store ban is being considered.

Removing TikTok from the US App Store and Google Play Store would mean a reported 100 million Americans having to give up the app. It's estimated that TikTok on its own has 400 million users in China who would also be affected, however.

Presuming that the new document's plans also cover WeChat as the Executive Order does, though, total removal from the App Store is likely to prove an issue for US firms such as Apple. Currently it's estimated that some 1.7 billion people in China use WeChat, although only a fraction of those will be using iPhones.

The impact will be from how the use of WeChat is so ubiquitous in China that a phone unable to run it is at a serious disadvantage. Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has estimated that Chinese iPhone sales may drop as much as 30% under this situation.

Neither TikTok nor WeChat have commented on the new White House document. However, TikTok has previously said it intends to sue to keep operating in the US.

avon b7 · August 12, 2020 10:36AM

I can't see this as anything other than an abuse of government powers.

It used to be that sovereign nations were aware of limitations on the sale of US products to third parties before purchase.

I think that's a reasonable approach to applying restrictions but changing the rules at short notice for doubtful reasons and in the concealed name of protectionism but claiming national security concerns AFTER the sale, well that can only end badly because countries and companies will only see the US as an unreliable entity willing to do anything to get its way. In that scenario, the US will find itself in isolation as the world shuns its products.

We've seen this with Huawei and now with Tik Tok. If WeChat is affected too, it won't be long before Tim Cook is dining at the White House to try and drive a message into Trump's head.

svanstrom · August 12, 2020 10:36AM

China just made Apple ban a Swedish artist from iTunes in China after she ended a deal with Huawei (https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3096030/its-not-something-i-stand-behind-swedish-singer-cuts-ties-huawei).

If the governments starts to demand bans from all markets, not just their local one, things might get interesting real quick in this "war"; and either Apple must open up their store and allow a Chinese "sub-store" handle that market (on equal footing with any other competitor), or Apple might have to pull out of China. Because you simply can't not have WeChat in China.

svanstrom · August 12, 2020 10:42AM

avon b7 said:

I can't see this as anything other than an abuse of government powers.

It used to be that sovereign nations were aware of limitations on the sale of US products to third parties before purchase.

I think that's a reasonable approach to applying restrictions but changing the rules at short notice for doubtful reasons and in the concealed name of protectionism but claiming national security concerns AFTER the sale, well that can only end badly because countries and companies will only see the US as an unreliable entity willing to do anything to get its way. In that scenario, the US will find itself in isolation as the world shuns its products.

We've seen this with Huawei and now with Tik Tok. If WeChat is affected too, it won't be long before Tim Cook is dining at the White House to try and drive a message into Trump's head.

Get off that pedestal on that horse of yours; even the worst of what that racist orange might do is still less than what Winnie Xi has been doing all the time with that great firewall of his.

People can't react before they react, so any argument of yours along the lines of "but it was ok yesterday" is pretty much null and moot.

avon b7 · August 12, 2020 10:54AM

svanstrom said:

avon b7 said:

I can't see this as anything other than an abuse of government powers.

It used to be that sovereign nations were aware of limitations on the sale of US products to third parties before purchase.

I think that's a reasonable approach to applying restrictions but changing the rules at short notice for doubtful reasons and in the concealed name of protectionism but claiming national security concerns AFTER the sale, well that can only end badly because countries and companies will only see the US as an unreliable entity willing to do anything to get its way. In that scenario, the US will find itself in isolation as the world shuns its products.

We've seen this with Huawei and now with Tik Tok. If WeChat is affected too, it won't be long before Tim Cook is dining at the White House to try and drive a message into Trump's head.

Get off that pedestal on that horse of yours; even the worst of what that racist orange might do is still less than what Winnie Xi has been doing all the time with that great firewall of his.

People can't react before they react, so any argument of yours along the lines of "but it was ok yesterday" is pretty much null and moot.

I think you missed the point.

China can do what it likes with its laws over its own sovereign territory. Just like the US.

However, the US has now moved to an extraterritorial mode and is attempting to apply 'sanctions' on its opponents by restricting what companies in sovereign nations can do with their products, simply because even a small part of them use US technology.

That will not end well for the US because it makes itself an unreliable partner. The worst kind in fact.

It has set a precedent. The world is taking notice (not least China!) and will look for more reliable partners.

No one is going to invest billions in a product only to see potential sales wiped out simply because somewhere along the line some tiny percentage of US technology was used.

That's even without getting into the efforts of the US to stop ASML (no US tech incolced) from doing business with Chinese operations. That is far, far worse.

svanstrom · August 12, 2020 11:04AM

avon b7 said:

svanstrom said:

avon b7 said:

I can't see this as anything other than an abuse of government powers.

It used to be that sovereign nations were aware of limitations on the sale of US products to third parties before purchase.

I think that's a reasonable approach to applying restrictions but changing the rules at short notice for doubtful reasons and in the concealed name of protectionism but claiming national security concerns AFTER the sale, well that can only end badly because countries and companies will only see the US as an unreliable entity willing to do anything to get its way. In that scenario, the US will find itself in isolation as the world shuns its products.

We've seen this with Huawei and now with Tik Tok. If WeChat is affected too, it won't be long before Tim Cook is dining at the White House to try and drive a message into Trump's head.

Get off that pedestal on that horse of yours; even the worst of what that racist orange might do is still less than what Winnie Xi has been doing all the time with that great firewall of his.

People can't react before they react, so any argument of yours along the lines of "but it was ok yesterday" is pretty much null and moot.

I think you missed the point.

China can do what it likes with its laws over its own sovereign territory. Just like the US.

However, the US has now moved to an extraterritorial mode and is attempting to apply 'sanctions' on its opponents by restricting what companies in sovereign nations can do with their products, simply because even a small part of them use US technology.

That will not end well for the US because it makes itself an unreliable partner. The worst kind in fact.

It has set a precedent. The world is taking notice (not least China!) and will look for more reliable partners.

No one is going to invest billions in a product only to see potential sales wiped out simply because somewhere along the line some tiny percentage of US technology was used.

That's even without getting into the efforts of the US to stop ASML (no US tech incolced) from doing business with Chinese operations. That is far, far worse.

You have just discovered the fun world of sanctions and embargos and all that… It's "normal", it's how the world works at an international level.

avon b7 · August 12, 2020 11:40AM

svanstrom said:

avon b7 said:

svanstrom said:

avon b7 said:

I can't see this as anything other than an abuse of government powers.

It used to be that sovereign nations were aware of limitations on the sale of US products to third parties before purchase.

I think that's a reasonable approach to applying restrictions but changing the rules at short notice for doubtful reasons and in the concealed name of protectionism but claiming national security concerns AFTER the sale, well that can only end badly because countries and companies will only see the US as an unreliable entity willing to do anything to get its way. In that scenario, the US will find itself in isolation as the world shuns its products.

We've seen this with Huawei and now with Tik Tok. If WeChat is affected too, it won't be long before Tim Cook is dining at the White House to try and drive a message into Trump's head.

Get off that pedestal on that horse of yours; even the worst of what that racist orange might do is still less than what Winnie Xi has been doing all the time with that great firewall of his.

People can't react before they react, so any argument of yours along the lines of "but it was ok yesterday" is pretty much null and moot.

I think you missed the point.

China can do what it likes with its laws over its own sovereign territory. Just like the US.

However, the US has now moved to an extraterritorial mode and is attempting to apply 'sanctions' on its opponents by restricting what companies in sovereign nations can do with their products, simply because even a small part of them use US technology.

That will not end well for the US because it makes itself an unreliable partner. The worst kind in fact.

It has set a precedent. The world is taking notice (not least China!) and will look for more reliable partners.

No one is going to invest billions in a product only to see potential sales wiped out simply because somewhere along the line some tiny percentage of US technology was used.

That's even without getting into the efforts of the US to stop ASML (no US tech incolced) from doing business with Chinese operations. That is far, far worse.

You have just discovered the fun world of sanctions and embargos and all that… It's "normal", it's how the world works at an international level.

These are not sanctions in the true sense. This is completely different and the US will pay a price.

That should be evident to any onlooker. So evident that the Pentagon pushed back against this kind of measure (ironically in the name of national security). US business is also pushing back and you can expect Tim Cook to board that train at lightning speed if Apple has to remove WeChat from its Chinese App Store.

svanstrom · August 12, 2020 12:18PM

avon b7 said:

svanstrom said:

avon b7 said:

svanstrom said:

avon b7 said:

I can't see this as anything other than an abuse of government powers.

It used to be that sovereign nations were aware of limitations on the sale of US products to third parties before purchase.

I think that's a reasonable approach to applying restrictions but changing the rules at short notice for doubtful reasons and in the concealed name of protectionism but claiming national security concerns AFTER the sale, well that can only end badly because countries and companies will only see the US as an unreliable entity willing to do anything to get its way. In that scenario, the US will find itself in isolation as the world shuns its products.

We've seen this with Huawei and now with Tik Tok. If WeChat is affected too, it won't be long before Tim Cook is dining at the White House to try and drive a message into Trump's head.

Get off that pedestal on that horse of yours; even the worst of what that racist orange might do is still less than what Winnie Xi has been doing all the time with that great firewall of his.

People can't react before they react, so any argument of yours along the lines of "but it was ok yesterday" is pretty much null and moot.

I think you missed the point.

China can do what it likes with its laws over its own sovereign territory. Just like the US.

However, the US has now moved to an extraterritorial mode and is attempting to apply 'sanctions' on its opponents by restricting what companies in sovereign nations can do with their products, simply because even a small part of them use US technology.

That will not end well for the US because it makes itself an unreliable partner. The worst kind in fact.

It has set a precedent. The world is taking notice (not least China!) and will look for more reliable partners.

No one is going to invest billions in a product only to see potential sales wiped out simply because somewhere along the line some tiny percentage of US technology was used.

That's even without getting into the efforts of the US to stop ASML (no US tech incolced) from doing business with Chinese operations. That is far, far worse.

You have just discovered the fun world of sanctions and embargos and all that… It's "normal", it's how the world works at an international level.

These are not sanctions in the true sense. This is completely different and the US will pay a price.

That should be evident to any onlooker. So evident that the Pentagon pushed back against this kind of measure (ironically in the name of national security). US business is also pushing back and you can expect Tim Cook to board that train at lightning speed if Apple has to remove WeChat from its Chinese App Store.

I added "and that" as a general inclusion, because if you aren't familiar with the basics I can't really write a whole wikipedia article about it for you; nor hold your hand taking your through your personal ideas of the "true sense" of how the world should be.

You may not like it, but stuff like this keeps happening all the time. It happens at political levels, international courts, trade organisations, and about a gazillion other types of deals and contracts and whatnot.

NinjaMan · August 12, 2020 1:24PM

ByteDance is a propaganda machine for the Chinese Govt and everything going on in Xinjiang - are people so blinded by their dislike of Trump that they're just going to ignore that ByteDance itself is a terrible company? They share data they collected with the Chinese Govt for the purpose of prosecuting anyone who it deems is going against China and is contributing to the literal slaughtering of human beings...

rob53 · August 12, 2020 1:26PM

svanstrom said:

avon b7 said:

svanstrom said:

avon b7 said:

svanstrom said:

avon b7 said:

I can't see this as anything other than an abuse of government powers.

It used to be that sovereign nations were aware of limitations on the sale of US products to third parties before purchase.

I think that's a reasonable approach to applying restrictions but changing the rules at short notice for doubtful reasons and in the concealed name of protectionism but claiming national security concerns AFTER the sale, well that can only end badly because countries and companies will only see the US as an unreliable entity willing to do anything to get its way. In that scenario, the US will find itself in isolation as the world shuns its products.

We've seen this with Huawei and now with Tik Tok. If WeChat is affected too, it won't be long before Tim Cook is dining at the White House to try and drive a message into Trump's head.

Get off that pedestal on that horse of yours; even the worst of what that racist orange might do is still less than what Winnie Xi has been doing all the time with that great firewall of his.

People can't react before they react, so any argument of yours along the lines of "but it was ok yesterday" is pretty much null and moot.

I think you missed the point.

China can do what it likes with its laws over its own sovereign territory. Just like the US.

However, the US has now moved to an extraterritorial mode and is attempting to apply 'sanctions' on its opponents by restricting what companies in sovereign nations can do with their products, simply because even a small part of them use US technology.

That will not end well for the US because it makes itself an unreliable partner. The worst kind in fact.

It has set a precedent. The world is taking notice (not least China!) and will look for more reliable partners.

No one is going to invest billions in a product only to see potential sales wiped out simply because somewhere along the line some tiny percentage of US technology was used.

That's even without getting into the efforts of the US to stop ASML (no US tech incolced) from doing business with Chinese operations. That is far, far worse.

You have just discovered the fun world of sanctions and embargos and all that… It's "normal", it's how the world works at an international level.

These are not sanctions in the true sense. This is completely different and the US will pay a price.

That should be evident to any onlooker. So evident that the Pentagon pushed back against this kind of measure (ironically in the name of national security). US business is also pushing back and you can expect Tim Cook to board that train at lightning speed if Apple has to remove WeChat from its Chinese App Store.

I added "and that" as a general inclusion, because if you aren't familiar with the basics I can't really write a whole wikipedia article about it for you; nor hold your hand taking your through your personal ideas of the "true sense" of how the world should be.

You may not like it, but stuff like this keeps happening all the time. It happens at political levels, international courts, trade organisations, and about a gazillion other types of deals and contracts and whatnot.

Give me a couple "deals" made by Presidents other than the psychopath in the White House right now. I'm not talking about deals made by non-US leaders, just those made by US leaders in a fit of rage without any basis of reality. Remember, Facebook and Google do the same things TikTok and WeChat but Trump likes Zuckerberg so Facebook gets a pass.

GeorgeBMac · August 12, 2020 1:52PM

svanstrom said:

avon b7 said:

svanstrom said:

avon b7 said:

I can't see this as anything other than an abuse of government powers.

It used to be that sovereign nations were aware of limitations on the sale of US products to third parties before purchase.

I think that's a reasonable approach to applying restrictions but changing the rules at short notice for doubtful reasons and in the concealed name of protectionism but claiming national security concerns AFTER the sale, well that can only end badly because countries and companies will only see the US as an unreliable entity willing to do anything to get its way. In that scenario, the US will find itself in isolation as the world shuns its products.

We've seen this with Huawei and now with Tik Tok. If WeChat is affected too, it won't be long before Tim Cook is dining at the White House to try and drive a message into Trump's head.

Get off that pedestal on that horse of yours; even the worst of what that racist orange might do is still less than what Winnie Xi has been doing all the time with that great firewall of his.

People can't react before they react, so any argument of yours along the lines of "but it was ok yesterday" is pretty much null and moot.

I think you missed the point.

China can do what it likes with its laws over its own sovereign territory. Just like the US.

However, the US has now moved to an extraterritorial mode and is attempting to apply 'sanctions' on its opponents by restricting what companies in sovereign nations can do with their products, simply because even a small part of them use US technology.

That will not end well for the US because it makes itself an unreliable partner. The worst kind in fact.

It has set a precedent. The world is taking notice (not least China!) and will look for more reliable partners.

No one is going to invest billions in a product only to see potential sales wiped out simply because somewhere along the line some tiny percentage of US technology was used.

That's even without getting into the efforts of the US to stop ASML (no US tech incolced) from doing business with Chinese operations. That is far, far worse.

You have just discovered the fun world of sanctions and embargos and all that… It's "normal", it's how the world works at an international level.

Bahahahaha

... It's how the world of a corrupt dictator without morals, ethics or respect for the law works....

Don;t try to normalize this corruption.

GeorgeBMac · August 12, 2020 1:54PM

NinjaMan said:

ByteDance is a propaganda machine for the Chinese Govt and everything going on in Xinjiang - are people so blinded by their dislike of Trump that .....

Are you so blinded by Trump's hate of China?

Pascalxx · August 12, 2020 1:58PM

Question: would the app ban apply to both iOS and Android in China? are there competing smartphone operating systems in China that could benefit from this?

SpamSandwich · August 12, 2020 2:18PM

rob53 said:

svanstrom said:

avon b7 said:

svanstrom said:

avon b7 said:

svanstrom said:

avon b7 said:

I can't see this as anything other than an abuse of government powers.

It used to be that sovereign nations were aware of limitations on the sale of US products to third parties before purchase.

I think that's a reasonable approach to applying restrictions but changing the rules at short notice for doubtful reasons and in the concealed name of protectionism but claiming national security concerns AFTER the sale, well that can only end badly because countries and companies will only see the US as an unreliable entity willing to do anything to get its way. In that scenario, the US will find itself in isolation as the world shuns its products.

We've seen this with Huawei and now with Tik Tok. If WeChat is affected too, it won't be long before Tim Cook is dining at the White House to try and drive a message into Trump's head.

Get off that pedestal on that horse of yours; even the worst of what that racist orange might do is still less than what Winnie Xi has been doing all the time with that great firewall of his.

People can't react before they react, so any argument of yours along the lines of "but it was ok yesterday" is pretty much null and moot.

I think you missed the point.

China can do what it likes with its laws over its own sovereign territory. Just like the US.

However, the US has now moved to an extraterritorial mode and is attempting to apply 'sanctions' on its opponents by restricting what companies in sovereign nations can do with their products, simply because even a small part of them use US technology.

That will not end well for the US because it makes itself an unreliable partner. The worst kind in fact.

It has set a precedent. The world is taking notice (not least China!) and will look for more reliable partners.

No one is going to invest billions in a product only to see potential sales wiped out simply because somewhere along the line some tiny percentage of US technology was used.

That's even without getting into the efforts of the US to stop ASML (no US tech incolced) from doing business with Chinese operations. That is far, far worse.

You have just discovered the fun world of sanctions and embargos and all that… It's "normal", it's how the world works at an international level.

These are not sanctions in the true sense. This is completely different and the US will pay a price.

That should be evident to any onlooker. So evident that the Pentagon pushed back against this kind of measure (ironically in the name of national security). US business is also pushing back and you can expect Tim Cook to board that train at lightning speed if Apple has to remove WeChat from its Chinese App Store.

I added "and that" as a general inclusion, because if you aren't familiar with the basics I can't really write a whole wikipedia article about it for you; nor hold your hand taking your through your personal ideas of the "true sense" of how the world should be.

You may not like it, but stuff like this keeps happening all the time. It happens at political levels, international courts, trade organisations, and about a gazillion other types of deals and contracts and whatnot.

Give me a couple "deals" made by Presidents other than the psychopath in the White House right now. I'm not talking about deals made by non-US leaders, just those made by US leaders in a fit of rage without any basis of reality. Remember, Facebook and Google do the same things TikTok and WeChat but Trump likes Zuckerberg so Facebook gets a pass.

You really don’t understand what’s going on here. A Chinese government security risk is going to be eliminated.

eideard · August 12, 2020 2:54PM

If Trump wasn't so inept, he'd bring back the goosestep. He's already shown his willingness to go for a "Heil" salute.

NinjaMan · August 12, 2020 3:15PM

GeorgeBMac said:

NinjaMan said:

ByteDance is a propaganda machine for the Chinese Govt and everything going on in Xinjiang - are people so blinded by their dislike of Trump that .....

Are you so blinded by Trump's hate of China?

Are you aware of China's hatred of the US that goes back before Trump's presidency? The US isn't the only country looking to ban TikTok as well... get off your anti-Trump soapbox and open your eyes to ByteDance being a contributor to mass-murders. The idea that this company is being defended baffles me - this ban should happen regardless of who's in office. It would be absurd if Biden wins in November and removes any potential ban that would be in place.

randominternetperson · August 12, 2020 3:45PM

SpamSandwich said:

rob53 said:

svanstrom said:

avon b7 said:

svanstrom said:

avon b7 said:

svanstrom said:

avon b7 said:

I can't see this as anything other than an abuse of government powers.

It used to be that sovereign nations were aware of limitations on the sale of US products to third parties before purchase.

I think that's a reasonable approach to applying restrictions but changing the rules at short notice for doubtful reasons and in the concealed name of protectionism but claiming national security concerns AFTER the sale, well that can only end badly because countries and companies will only see the US as an unreliable entity willing to do anything to get its way. In that scenario, the US will find itself in isolation as the world shuns its products.

We've seen this with Huawei and now with Tik Tok. If WeChat is affected too, it won't be long before Tim Cook is dining at the White House to try and drive a message into Trump's head.

Get off that pedestal on that horse of yours; even the worst of what that racist orange might do is still less than what Winnie Xi has been doing all the time with that great firewall of his.

People can't react before they react, so any argument of yours along the lines of "but it was ok yesterday" is pretty much null and moot.

I think you missed the point.

China can do what it likes with its laws over its own sovereign territory. Just like the US.

However, the US has now moved to an extraterritorial mode and is attempting to apply 'sanctions' on its opponents by restricting what companies in sovereign nations can do with their products, simply because even a small part of them use US technology.

That will not end well for the US because it makes itself an unreliable partner. The worst kind in fact.

It has set a precedent. The world is taking notice (not least China!) and will look for more reliable partners.

No one is going to invest billions in a product only to see potential sales wiped out simply because somewhere along the line some tiny percentage of US technology was used.

That's even without getting into the efforts of the US to stop ASML (no US tech incolced) from doing business with Chinese operations. That is far, far worse.

You have just discovered the fun world of sanctions and embargos and all that… It's "normal", it's how the world works at an international level.

These are not sanctions in the true sense. This is completely different and the US will pay a price.

That should be evident to any onlooker. So evident that the Pentagon pushed back against this kind of measure (ironically in the name of national security). US business is also pushing back and you can expect Tim Cook to board that train at lightning speed if Apple has to remove WeChat from its Chinese App Store.

I added "and that" as a general inclusion, because if you aren't familiar with the basics I can't really write a whole wikipedia article about it for you; nor hold your hand taking your through your personal ideas of the "true sense" of how the world should be.

You may not like it, but stuff like this keeps happening all the time. It happens at political levels, international courts, trade organisations, and about a gazillion other types of deals and contracts and whatnot.

Give me a couple "deals" made by Presidents other than the psychopath in the White House right now. I'm not talking about deals made by non-US leaders, just those made by US leaders in a fit of rage without any basis of reality. Remember, Facebook and Google do the same things TikTok and WeChat but Trump likes Zuckerberg so Facebook gets a pass.

You really don’t understand what’s going on here. A Chinese government security risk is going to be eliminated.

Like magic. It'll just disappear. It will just go away like these things do.

mr lizard · August 12, 2020 3:50PM

“Removing TikTok from the US App Storeand Google Play Store would mean a reported 100 million Americans having to give up the app”

Would it? Apps removed from the App Store continue to function on devices which have already downloaded those apps. Unless Apple pulls the developer’s security certificate which would prevent the app from launching then then apps already downloaded should continue to work just fine.

svanstrom · August 12, 2020 4:15PM

mr lizard said:

“Removing TikTok from the US App Storeand Google Play Store would mean a reported 100 million Americans having to give up the app”

Would it? Apps removed from the App Store continue to function on devices which have already downloaded those apps. Unless Apple pulls the developer’s security certificate which would prevent the app from launching then then apps already downloaded should continue to work just fine.

If needed (big security problem etc) Apple could nuke already installed apps; and if that function exists, the gov could force Apple to use it.

So TikTok could go dark in app-form; but they're probably crazy busy making a decent web app version rn.

GeorgeBMac · August 12, 2020 4:50PM

SpamSandwich said:

rob53 said:

svanstrom said:

avon b7 said:

svanstrom said:

avon b7 said:

svanstrom said:

avon b7 said:

I can't see this as anything other than an abuse of government powers.

It used to be that sovereign nations were aware of limitations on the sale of US products to third parties before purchase.

I think that's a reasonable approach to applying restrictions but changing the rules at short notice for doubtful reasons and in the concealed name of protectionism but claiming national security concerns AFTER the sale, well that can only end badly because countries and companies will only see the US as an unreliable entity willing to do anything to get its way. In that scenario, the US will find itself in isolation as the world shuns its products.

We've seen this with Huawei and now with Tik Tok. If WeChat is affected too, it won't be long before Tim Cook is dining at the White House to try and drive a message into Trump's head.

Get off that pedestal on that horse of yours; even the worst of what that racist orange might do is still less than what Winnie Xi has been doing all the time with that great firewall of his.

People can't react before they react, so any argument of yours along the lines of "but it was ok yesterday" is pretty much null and moot.

I think you missed the point.

China can do what it likes with its laws over its own sovereign territory. Just like the US.

However, the US has now moved to an extraterritorial mode and is attempting to apply 'sanctions' on its opponents by restricting what companies in sovereign nations can do with their products, simply because even a small part of them use US technology.

That will not end well for the US because it makes itself an unreliable partner. The worst kind in fact.

It has set a precedent. The world is taking notice (not least China!) and will look for more reliable partners.

No one is going to invest billions in a product only to see potential sales wiped out simply because somewhere along the line some tiny percentage of US technology was used.

That's even without getting into the efforts of the US to stop ASML (no US tech incolced) from doing business with Chinese operations. That is far, far worse.

You have just discovered the fun world of sanctions and embargos and all that… It's "normal", it's how the world works at an international level.

These are not sanctions in the true sense. This is completely different and the US will pay a price.

That should be evident to any onlooker. So evident that the Pentagon pushed back against this kind of measure (ironically in the name of national security). US business is also pushing back and you can expect Tim Cook to board that train at lightning speed if Apple has to remove WeChat from its Chinese App Store.

I added "and that" as a general inclusion, because if you aren't familiar with the basics I can't really write a whole wikipedia article about it for you; nor hold your hand taking your through your personal ideas of the "true sense" of how the world should be.

You may not like it, but stuff like this keeps happening all the time. It happens at political levels, international courts, trade organisations, and about a gazillion other types of deals and contracts and whatnot.

Give me a couple "deals" made by Presidents other than the psychopath in the White House right now. I'm not talking about deals made by non-US leaders, just those made by US leaders in a fit of rage without any basis of reality. Remember, Facebook and Google do the same things TikTok and WeChat but Trump likes Zuckerberg so Facebook gets a pass.

You really don’t understand what’s going on here. A Chinese government security risk is going to be eliminated.

You mean the imaginary one in Trump's mind? THAT security risk?

Actually, the risk is that TikTok users will again humiliate him. But, to Trump, that IS a national security risk. He sees himself as a dictator and any threat to him is a threat to the country.

GeorgeBMac · August 12, 2020 4:52PM

NinjaMan said:

GeorgeBMac said:

NinjaMan said:

ByteDance is a propaganda machine for the Chinese Govt and everything going on in Xinjiang - are people so blinded by their dislike of Trump that .....

Are you so blinded by Trump's hate of China?

Are you aware of China's hatred of the US that goes back before Trump's presidency? The US isn't the only country looking to ban TikTok as well... get off your anti-Trump soapbox and open your eyes to ByteDance being a contributor to mass-murders. The idea that this company is being defended baffles me - this ban should happen regardless of who's in office. It would be absurd if Biden wins in November and removes any potential ban that would be in place.

Does Trump have any more evidence for that nonsense than he had for his Huawei nonsense?

White House set to entirely ban TikTok from App Store

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