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In August 2020, President Donald Trump dropped a bombshell executive order banning TikTok in the United States. Since then, as TikTok has competed against other Big Tech companies—growing amongst teen customers whilst Facebook and other individuals have struggled—its capacity to survive in the United States has remained beneath a cloud of uncertainty. Would regulators step in and kill off a item that had turn into a staple type of communication for some one hundred million Americans?
That cloud seemed to lift final week in the wake of reports that TikTok will enter into a information storage deal with Oracle. In the brief term, the agreement would be excellent for US customers, enabling TikTok to invest much more of its sources and power into enhancing its item, rather than wrestling with the government.
But in the lengthy run, the forecast appears bleaker. The deal would establish precedents most likely to harm technologies firms and their customers.
The major concern US politicians have raised about TikTok is that mainly because it is owned by China’s ByteDance, the Chinese government could conceivably access any American information held by the firm. The other massive concern has been safety danger. This deal would address each. Under the agreement, Oracle would retailer TikTok information for US customers, make certain that information is not transferred to ByteDance, and be accountable for guarding user information from cybersecurity threats. Because this sensitive process will be performed by a US firm with close ties to the government, TikTok ought to lastly be capable to place to rest the concern that its operations in the United States constitute a grave threat to American safety.
Of course, the agreement exacts economic and technical expenses from TikTok. The firm will spend for third-celebration information storage, even as its competitors have sought to lessen their personal expenses and boost functionality by storing information in their own data centers. Still, the agreement is far preferable to becoming banned or forced to cede a majority stake to a US firm, two outcomes that seemed plausible in the summer time of 2020. The expenses are worth bearing mainly because they will give TikTok the freedom to compete on its greatest strength: its item.
Keyword: The TikTok-Oracle deal would set two dangerous precedents