TikTok Snatched Defeat From the Jaws of Victory
The social media company blew its chance to rewrite how the world views it. Now its fate rests with governments across the globe.
Too late to turn this around?
Photographer: Bryan van der Beek/BloombergTikTok had four years to save itself. That’s how long it’s been since talk of banning the Chinese social media app was floated in the US under the administration of Donald Trump, who even tried to force its sale, first to Microsoft Corp. and then to Oracle Corp. It subsequently enjoyed a stay of execution largely because of a change in US president.
Yet Joe Biden rolled back very few China policies initiated by his predecessor, with the TikTok ban or divestiture put on the back burner to focus on more immediate concerns like semiconductor curbs. In the meantime, a rollcall of US states along with other nations such as Australia, the UK, and New Zealand have moved to eliminate the short-video app from government devices or, in India’s case, blocked it all together.