๐ŸŒ US House moves towards TikTok ban


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Hi Intriguer.ย I beg your forgiveness today as our main story about TikTok vs the US is a little longer than usual. I think itโ€™s one of those issues that, however unintentionally, becomes totemic of so many of the challenges modern societies are grappling with.

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Itโ€™s about the calm control vs chaotic freedom of information. Itโ€™s about the retreat of the globalisation dream. Itโ€™s about free trade and foreign investment vs keeping control of critical infrastructure.

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In fact, I think itโ€™s the first major battle (of many) weโ€™ll see about what it means to be a sovereign nation in the 21st century.

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With that grandiose framing out of the way, letโ€™s get to it, shall we?

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– John Fowler, Co-Founder

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Was this forwarded to you? We’re a team of ex-diplomats producing a concise and engaging geopolitical briefing for 85k+ leaders each day. Itโ€™s free to subscribe.

TODAYโ€™S NEWS

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TOP STORY

US House votes to advance TikTok ban if China parent company doesnโ€™t divest

TikTok has ended up in Americaโ€™s crosshairs once again.

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The US House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly (352-65) to pass a bill requiring popular social media app TikTok to sever ties with its China-based parent company ByteDance or face a nationwide ban in its largest market, the US.

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This isnโ€™t the first time US lawmakers have tried to ban or regulate the app:

  • 39 US states have restricted the app from government devicesย 

  • In 2020, then-President Donald Trump signed an executive order, broadly similar to yesterdayโ€™s bill (a court later shot it down)

  • Congress passed a bill in 2022 prohibiting the use of TikTok on any federally issued device or network, and

  • Montana passed a bill last year banning the app altogether (though a court has since blocked the ban)

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But this time feels different, and Congress looks more united (at least on this).

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Why is the US cracking down on TikTok?

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TikTok is owned by ByteDance, which, like most large Chinese firms, is subservient to Beijingโ€™s political goals. In his testimony before Congress, TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew defended his companyโ€™s independence from both ByteDance and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), but yesterdayโ€™s vote in Congress suggests he failed to sway US lawmakers.

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Proponents of forcing TikTok to divest say the app is a risk to national security, and members of Congress received a classified briefing on Tuesday outlining the reasons why:

  1. Data collectionย 

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Like other social media platforms, TikTok collects a wide range of data about its users, including location, contacts, device type, and age, as well as information about how users interact with the platform. But lawmakers in the US and beyond are concerned this data could be shared with others behind closed doors.

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And this started to look less theoretical when it was revealed TikTokโ€™s parent company accessed the personal data of two journalists to track down a company leak.

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In response, TikTok pivoted in 2022 to store all US user data on US-owned Oracle Cloud Infrastructure. But as former Facebook chief security officer Alex Stamos pointed out, โ€œinternal data controls are extremely hard to build and trustโ€.

  1. The algorithmย 

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According to a recent poll, 14% of US adults say they regularly get their news from TikTok, a number thatโ€™s more than quadrupled since 2020.ย 

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That gives the app real influence over the way Americans perceive and engage with the world around them. And yet, almost nothing is known about TikTokโ€™s algorithm and the models it uses to choose what content to show, and more importantly not show, its users.

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For example, all the way back in 2019, The Guardian reported on leaked company documents that suggested TikTok instructs its content moderators to censor references to Beijingโ€™s taboo topics including Tiananmen Square, Tibetan independence, and Falun Gong.

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Beyond censoring views Beijing doesnโ€™t like, there are also concerns TikTok could boost views Beijing does like. Chinaโ€™s state-owned media outlets have already used TikTok ads to broadcast pro-China messages to millions in the West, and there are fears its algorithm could boost pro-Beijing user-generated content too. All this in an election year.

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So, what happens now?

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The bill will now go to a vote in the Senate, where objections to the House bill will get a โ€˜fullerโ€™ airing. If the bill passes, President Joe Biden has already said heโ€™ll sign it into law.

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At that point, ByteDance will have six months to spin off TikTok or challenge the legislation in court, arguing the bill infringes on the free speech rights of the appโ€™s 170 million US users. Experts are split on whether this defence will hold water.

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Of course, TikTok and its army of lobbyists arenโ€™t standing idle: theyโ€™ve been actively mobilising TikTok users by exhorting them to contact their representatives about the bill, though itโ€™s not clear whether that helped or hindered their case.

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INTRIGUEโ€™S TAKE

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I made a bold claim on Twitter/X a few days ago that there was no way a TikTok โ€˜banโ€™ would be in place before the US election. I guess I took Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondoโ€™s 2023 observation that banning TikTok could โ€œlose every voter under 35, foreverโ€ too literally.

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With that said, I canโ€™t remember a bill moving through the House so quickly, particularly when you consider there were no leaks, and it passed the House Energy and Commerce Committee with a rare 50-0 vote.

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If this bill becomes law (and thatโ€™s still an if because the US Senate works in mysterious ways), Iโ€™ll be watching Chinaโ€™s reaction very carefully. The pre-Xi Jinping China might have been expected to take a pragmatic approach and begrudgingly allow ByteDance to sell TikTok for a pretty penny while using the issue as leverage in other negotiations with the US.

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But Xiโ€™s China is not Deng Xiaopingโ€™s China, and it seems likely Xi will prevent TikTok from being spun off. The Chinese Ministry of Commerce suggested as much last year when it announced it would use technology export restrictions to prevent TikTok from being sold to a US entity.ย 

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If that happens, it would tell us two things:

  1. That China really doesnโ€™t want TikTokโ€™s algorithm to fall into the hands of a foreign company, which suggests there really is something to hide.

  2. That security and ideology trump pragmatism in Beijing. Thatโ€™s a reality that will need to be factored into any assessment about how Beijing will act in the future on issues like, sayโ€ฆ Taiwan.

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Ultimately, none of this is surprising: the CCP has always said it views itself as being in a long-term battle for control of the global narrative. If this ban passes it will reinforce that view in Beijing, no matter how US diplomats attempt to nuance it.

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All I know is itโ€™s time to buy stock in Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts.ย – John

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Also worth noting:

  • Former President Donald Trump, who once moved to ban TikTok, is now opposing the move after meeting with a TikTok investor, arguing it would upset a majority of young voters and disproportionately benefit rival US social media firm, Meta.

  • John Garnaut, a former journalist in China and adviser to former Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, gave a speech in 2017 outlining how the CCP views the global battle for information. Itโ€™s a nuanced, informed and insightful piece of commentary well worth your consideration (if you find it paywalled, let us know).

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Weโ€™re giving away 2 tickets to hit show Lovett or Leave It!

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โญ๏ธ โ€œLovett or Leave It is a live variety show and podcast that breaks down the weekโ€™s news in politics and pop culture with sketches, games, jokes that literally never miss, and everyoneโ€™s favorite: nuanced analysis.โ€ โญ๏ธ

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Intrigued? Hereโ€™s how to win the tickets: Refer as many new subscribers as possible to Intrigue before Friday, 4 April (using your backup email address doesnโ€™t count! ๐Ÿคฃ).

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Each new referral will give you another ticket in the giveaway! The more you refer, the higher your chance to win.

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P.S. If you canโ€™t get to DC, fret not – weโ€™ll be doing more event giveaways around the world soon!

MEANWHILE, ELSEWHEREโ€ฆ

  1. ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ฟย Uzbekistan: A state-owned Uzbek mining company is in talks with Chinese firms to jointly develop two uranium mines in Uzbekistan. Uzbekistan is the worldโ€™s fifth-largest producer of uranium and has set goals to double its uranium production by the end of the decade.ย 

  2. ๐Ÿ‡ฑ๐Ÿ‡นย Lithuania: President Gitanas Nauseda has accused Russia of being behind a hammer attack in Vilnius against exiled Russian critic and former Navalny aide Leonid Volkov. Nauseda addressed the Russian president directly: โ€œI can only say one thing to Putin – nobody is afraid of you hereโ€.ย 

  3. ๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ณย India: Delhi has moved to enact a controversial citizenship law that allows non-Muslim refugees from Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan to apply for Indian citizenship. The government passed the law in 2019 but its implementation (a pledge by Indiaโ€™s ruling party ahead of upcoming elections) was postponed due to protests led by Indiaโ€™s Muslim community.ย 

  4. ๐Ÿ‡ต๐Ÿ‡พย Paraguay: Foreign Minister Rubรฉn Ramรญrez Lezcano has said the Latin American bloc Mercosur is ready to resume free trade talks with Japan after a seven-year pause. The bloc is also pushing to finalise a deal with the EU, though the process has now officially stalled more times than there are Fast & Furious movies.

  5. ๐Ÿ‡ท๐Ÿ‡ผย Rwanda: A local court has ruled against opposition figure Victoire Ingabire, upholding her ban from running in the upcoming presidential elections. Ingabire called the ruling โ€œpoliticisedโ€. President Paul Kagame, who has been at the helm of the country since 2000, is widely expected to win the election.ย 

EXTRA INTRIGUE

Here are some of the events folks are betting on around the world

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(Weโ€™re not endorsing this, just thought youโ€™d be interested to know the odds!)

  • Russiaโ€™s presidential elections kick off tomorrow (Friday) – betting markets are pricing in a 98% chance of Putin winning against token opposition. Those odds dropped briefly to ~90% after Navalnyโ€™s death.

  • The market odds of a US interest rate cut by June are still at around 60%, despite dropping slightly on this weekโ€™s news that US inflation was hotter than expected last month.

  • And punters have Croatia as the 22% favourite to win Eurovision 2024 in May, after Baby Lasagnaโ€™s landslide victory in the Croatian nationals last month – the song contest will be held in Malmรถ, Sweden this year.

MEME OF THE DAY

The work of our resident meme lord (Jeremy) is now available via our dedicated โ€˜Diplo Humourโ€™ page on Instagram! (@diplohumour)

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As glamorous as diplomacy may seem, the various official reviews, staff surveys, and occasional strikes suggest morale is rather low at foreign ministries around the world. There are plenty of reasons for this, but we suspect one factor is office culture, exacerbated by the continued presence of (ahem) certain ambassadors.

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Some allegations make it out into the public domain – like this monthโ€™s scathing US State Department report, which describes staff at the US embassy in Singapore being โ€œfearfulโ€ of the ambassador (he shares his own perspective in the report). And the Peruvian ambassador to Israel was once fired after his chef and other staff secretly recorded him berating them with some choice language.

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Unfortunately, these public reports are just the tip of the iceberg. So while we canโ€™t recommend the above Peruvian approach, if youโ€™re in this kind of situation, weโ€™d encourage you to report it. If you have any doubts, drop us a line.

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Yesterdayโ€™s poll: Which of the following do you think is the greatest external threat to the US?

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๐ŸŸจ๐ŸŸจ๐ŸŸจ๐ŸŸจ๐ŸŸจโฌœ๏ธ 1๏ธโƒฃ Malign meddling in US elections (29%)

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๐ŸŸฉ๐ŸŸฉ๐ŸŸฉ๐ŸŸฉ๐ŸŸฉ๐ŸŸฉ 2๏ธโƒฃ Cyber-warfare by rival countries (34%)

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๐ŸŸจโฌœ๏ธโฌœ๏ธโฌœ๏ธโฌœ๏ธโฌœ๏ธ 3๏ธโƒฃ Russian advances in Ukraine (6%)

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๐ŸŸจ๐ŸŸจ๐ŸŸจ๐ŸŸจโฌœ๏ธโฌœ๏ธ 4๏ธโƒฃ China’s emergence as a superpower (28%)

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โฌœ๏ธโฌœ๏ธโฌœ๏ธโฌœ๏ธโฌœ๏ธโฌœ๏ธ โœ๏ธ Other (write in!) (4%)

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Your two cents:

  • 2๏ธโƒฃ B.B.D: โ€œCyberattacks on our infrastructure can cause chaos domestically in a way nothing short of an actual war on US soil can.โ€

  • 1๏ธโƒฃ R.B: โ€œOnly the US can defeat the US, but external parties can encourage the destructive infighting.โ€

  • 4๏ธโƒฃ G.S.P: โ€œThe US is being stretched dangerously thin on a number of fronts on the world stage. Ukraine, Red Sea, Gaza, perhaps Haiti, now Chinese โ€˜expansionโ€™ into the Pacific realm.โ€

  • โœ๏ธ D.B: โ€œDonโ€™t point fingers at others when our internal failings are the greatest threats.โ€

  • โœ๏ธ N: โ€œWhy does the USA feel that it is threatenedโ€ฆ Each country has the right to emerge as a world power and that space can be shared.โ€