Trump Has a Point on TikTok, But His Method Is Wrong
The U.S. needs a smart, strategic approach to coexisting with China on the internet.
It’s complicated.
Photographer: Lionel Bonaventure/AFP/Getty Images
After weeks of threatening to ban the wildly popular video-sharing app TikTok, the Trump administration has offered a 45-day reprieve to let Microsoft Corp. explore buying the company’s U.S. operations from its Chinese parent, ByteDance Ltd. This possibility has some attractions, and not just for the companies concerned. Even so, the administration’s approach risks doing more harm than good.
With about 100 million users in the U.S., TikTok is a cultural sensation. It’s China’s first major overseas hit in the social-media business, and already looks like a formidable rival to the behemoths of Silicon Valley. Competition is good, and it would be wrong to go after TikTok because of the threat it poses to the industry’s incumbents. However, the newcomer raises significant security concerns, and these do warrant attention.