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American TikTok users didn’t have a good start to the weekend. On Friday, September 18, the United States Department of Commerce ordered a complete ban on Chinese media giants, ByteDance, and Tencent.

ByteDance and Tencent, respective owners of TikTok, and Wechat are both Chinese corporations; the Department of Commerce stated that the ban will “protect users in the U.S. by eliminating access to these applications and significantly reducing their functionality.” United States Secretary of Commerce, Wilbur Ross wrote, “we have taken significant action to combat China’s malicious collection of American citizens’ data, while promoting our national values, democratic rules-based norms, and aggressive enforcement of U.S. laws and regulations.”

China, ByteDance, and Tencent have all denied the claim that American-user data is preserved and examined. ByteDance went beyond this, hiring former Disney executive Kevin Mayer, to be TikTok’s, Chief Executive Officer. This attempt at distancing Bytedance from its Chinese ownership only lasted three months, with Mayer resigning under increased pressure from Washington DC.

Over the summer, American politicians became increasingly vocal regarding TikTok’s existence as a potential threat to American security; none more so than the POTUS himself. On August 6, Trump denounced America’s business relationship with Chinese corporations ByteDance, and Tencent, ordering the execution of a ban within 45 days.

According to President Trump, the United States needed to “take aggressive action against the owners of TikTok to protect national security”. When regarding Tencent, Trump stated the Chinese company “automatically captures vast swaths of information from its users. This data collection threatens to allow the Chinese Communist Party access to Americans’ personal and proprietary information.”

China versus the World

Should the ban go ahead, Sunday will see TikTok and Wechat’s absence from American app stores. The United States will be among several countries to entirely ban TikTok; ByteDance recently withdrew its app from Hong Kong following a new national security law, just a week after India banned the video-sharing platform, following clashes at their border shared with China.  

How Will it Work?

Americans that already utilize any ByteDance or Tencent applications will retain access until November 12, 2020. The Department of Commerce won’t be looking to punish American users that keep the applications, aiming instead at the app’s software and functionality. By November 12, both apps will experience a severe reduction in functionality, and speed.

“We disagree with the decision from the Commerce Department, and are disappointed that it stands to block new app downloads from Sunday and ban use of the TikTok app in the U.S. from Nov. 12,” Bytedance said in response to the ban’s announcement, “We will continue to challenge the unjust executive order, which was enacted without due process and threatens to deprive the American people and small businesses across the U.S. of a significant platform for both a voice and livelihoods.”

The president’s order was cited under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, allowing the administrative authority to ban all commercial/financial interactions with sanctioned parties. Tensions further arose when President Trump ordered the vacation of China’s consulate office in Houston, Texas. China countered by immediately ordering the United States out of its Chengdu consulate office. While ByteDAnceThe ban marks the latest development in Trump’s fight against “untrusted” Chinese applications that pose “significant threats ” to American privacy.

Unfamiliar with these applications?

Extremely popular amongst Generation Z, TikTok is a video-based, social media platform; utilizing music, lip-syncing, comedy, cooking, and more. These videos can range from three seconds to a minute long. According to combined data from Apple and Android’s app stores, in 2019, TikTok was downloaded over 700 million times. It’s estimated that TikTok currently has over 800 million users across the globe, 100 million of them are in the United States.

Boasting over 1 billion users(primarily in China), WeChat is an all-in-one social networking service, with features for messaging, photography financial transactions, and more. Upon request of the Communist Party of China(CCP), user activity can be monitored, shared with, and analyzed by China’s government. Accounts from outside of China also have their data surveilled; this data goes towards the construction of Chinese censorship algorithms. There are an estimated 19 million Wechat users in the United States; most prominently students, immigrants, travelers, or those with fiscal relations to China.

Zero Risks During Election Year

After two presidential campaigns rife with interference, the Trump administration is taking no chances this time around. Back in June, TikTok users were allegedly responsible for a dishearteningly abysmal turnout at President Trump’s Tulsa Oklahoma rally. TikTok users reserved thousands of tickets without any intention to attend, massively inflating the expected crowd size. 

Will Canada Follow in America’s Footsteps?

Highly unlikely, for now. However, Canada has been wrapped into its tensions with the Chinese government; regarding the extradition of Huawei chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou, and China’s imprisonment of Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, widely viewed as wrongful and retaliatory.

An Opportunity Zuckerberg Can’t Resist

Following President Trump’s condemnation of ByteDance and Tencent, Facebook revealed it’s response to TikTok, Instagram Reels. Instagram reels will allow users to create 15 second short videos, featuring many visual effects.

Facebook is no stranger to copying their competition, Instagram’s 24-hour story feature is nearly identical to that of Snapchat’s. Additionally, this isn’t even Facebook’s first time attempting to replicate TikTok.Facebook earlier launched a TikTok knockoff called Lasso in 2018, but they shut down servers after only a few months.

There’s Still Time for Tiktok

While marginal, there is still room for compromise. Tencent and WeChat are on the way out, but Donald Trump has one possible condition for ByteDance; the corporation must give the United States complete control over its user’s data.

ByteDance has been in contact with 2 American companies, Oracle Corp, and even Microsoft, trying frantically to construct TikTok Global. These companies aren’t under the same scrutiny as Facebook or Alphabet(Google) and would make interesting new players into the social media market. If ByteDance can address the Department of Commerce’s concerns by November 12, then TikTok will not yet have seen the last of its days in the U.S. However, that window is shrinking daily. Beginning Sunday, ByteDance will need to move quickly if it wants a different American fate.