{"id":615106,"date":"2024-04-01T11:00:10","date_gmt":"2024-04-01T08:00:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/what-itd-take-for-the-eu-to-ban-tiktok\/"},"modified":"2024-04-01T11:00:10","modified_gmt":"2024-04-01T08:00:10","slug":"what-itd-take-for-the-eu-to-ban-tiktok","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/what-itd-take-for-the-eu-to-ban-tiktok\/","title":{"rendered":"#What it\u2019d take for the EU to ban TikTok"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_89 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6af0a97dab936\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6af0a97dab936\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/what-itd-take-for-the-eu-to-ban-tiktok\/#Will_the_EU_ban_TikTok\" >Will the EU ban TikTok?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/what-itd-take-for-the-eu-to-ban-tiktok\/#The_ripple_effect\" >The ripple effect<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/what-itd-take-for-the-eu-to-ban-tiktok\/#Just_how_dangerous_is_TikTok\" >Just how dangerous is TikTok?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/what-itd-take-for-the-eu-to-ban-tiktok\/#What_happens_next\" >What happens next?<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<div id=\"article-main-content\">\n                            <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The US is getting increasingly aggressive about TikTok. In March, the House of Representatives <\/span><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/world-us-canada-68556540\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">passed a bill<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> that could see the Chinese <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/social-mediaa\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"1\" title=\"Social Media\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">social media<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">app<\/a> banned across the entire country due to security concerns.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If signed into law, the bill would give ByteDance \u2014 the company that owns TikTok \u2014 six months to sell the platform. If this doesn\u2019t happen, TikTok won\u2019t be accessible to users in the United States. While there\u2019s still <\/span><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/technology\/2024\/mar\/13\/will-us-ban-tiktok\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">a long way to go<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> before this becomes reality, the intent is clear: the US government will ban software it sees as a threat.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This got us thinking \u2014 could the same thing happen in Europe? Would the EU ever try and abolish TikTok?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The signs are there. In 2023, <\/span><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/technology\/european-parliament-ban-tiktok-staff-phones-eu-official-says-2023-02-28\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">the EU banned TikTok<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> from the devices of the European Parliament, European Commission, and EU Council members. <\/span><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/edition.cnn.com\/2023\/02\/28\/tech\/tiktok-eu-ban-intl-hnk\/index.html\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This was done<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> due to \u201ccybersecurity concerns, in particular regarding data protection and collection of data by third parties.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"inarticle-wrapper latest channel-cta hs-embed-tnw\">\n<div id=\"hs-embed-tnw\" class=\"channel-cta-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"channel-cta-img\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"js-lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/events.tnw\/hardfork-2018\/uploads\/visuals\/tnw-newsletter.png\"\/><\/div>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/events.tnw\/hardfork-2018\/uploads\/visuals\/tnw-newsletter.png\"\/><\/p>\n<div class=\"channel-cta-input\">\n<p class=\"channel-cta-title\">The &lt;3 of EU tech<\/p>\n<p class=\"channel-cta-tagline\">The latest rumblings from the EU tech scene, a story from our wise ol&#8217; founder Boris, and some questionable AI art. It&#8217;s free, every week, in your inbox. Sign up now!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Further than that, it was \u201c<\/span><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.eu\/article\/eu-parliament-to-ban-staff-from-tiktok-over-cybersecurity-concerns\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">strongly recommended<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201d for MEPs, their assistants, and anyone involved in the above bodies to remove the app from their personal devices too.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">So could the European Union follow the United States\u2019 lead and try to put a stop to TikTok on the continent? Let\u2019s find out.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Will_the_EU_ban_TikTok\"><\/span><strong>Will the EU ban TikTok?<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The short answer is no. There\u2019s almost no way that the EU itself will issue a member-state-wide ban of the social media app. Experts we spoke to were unanimous about that.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ronan Murphy \u2014 the director of the Digital Innovation Initiative at <\/span><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/cepa.org\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">CEPA<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, the Center for European Policy Analysis \u2014 was blunt in his analysis, saying an EU TikTok ban was \u201cunlikely.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This was echoed by Matej \u0160imal\u010d\u00edk, the executive director of CEIAS (Central European Institute of Asian Studies) who says it is \u201cvery unlikely.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">One reason why the TikTok ban probably won\u2019t materialise is simple: it\u2019s not something the European Union really does. As Murphy from CEPA explains, \u201c<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">the Digital Markets Act (DMA)<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Digital Services Act (DSA)<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, and <\/span><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/General_Data_Protection_Regulation\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">GDPR<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> are the weapons of choice for the European Commission in controlling <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/technology\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"4\" title=\"Technology\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">technology<\/a> usage and data protection, not banning apps.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u0160imal\u010d\u00edk concurs, saying that the governing body\u2019s approach to technology issues doesn\u2019t involve outlawing things, instead it focuses on \u201cinvestigating specific legal breaches and sanctioning them.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In many ways, this displays the difference between the legal systems of the USA and EU, with the former having a common law system, and the latter using civil law frameworks \u2014 <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">something we\u2019ve discussed before in relation to the DMA<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/general\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"3\" title=\"General\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">General<\/a>ly, common law will leave things alone until there needs to be action, while civil law concentrates more on broad regulation.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Simply put, banning is not the way the EU does things.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Another reason TikTok won\u2019t disappear from Europe entirely \u2014 and something that both Murphy and \u0160imal\u010d\u00edk were keen to stress \u2014 is that national security is the province of the member states. Because each country is in charge of its own security, the EU won\u2019t step in with blanket bans. That\u2019s up to the nations themselves.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"The_ripple_effect\"><\/span><strong>The ripple effect<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Yet this means that individual countries in the EU <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">could<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> ban TikTok \u2014 and this is where things start to get interesting. What happens if the US actually bans TikTok?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The US is such a large presence politically, economically, and culturally that its actions have a huge influence on European nations.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cA US ban on the app could motivate a chain reaction in some of the EU member states that closely align their security policy with that of the US,\u201d \u0160imal\u010d\u00edk says.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Adding to this, Murphy tells me that if the US goes ahead with blocking TikTok, he thinks \u201cthere <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">might<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> be bans at a member state level on security grounds.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Potentially, enough momentum could be created by the United States dispensing of TikTok that several EU member states would do the same, either because they want to align their policy with the US, or assure the public they\u2019re willing to act against perceived threats.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There\u2019s a similar precedent to this in the past. When <\/span><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cnet.com\/news\/privacy\/huawei-ban-timeline-detained-cfo-makes-deal-with-us-justice-department\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">the US began its ban of Huawei and ZTE 5G equipment in 2019<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, <\/span><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/technology\/european-countries-who-put-curbs-huawei-5g-equipment-2023-09-28\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">a raft of European nations following suit<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, including the UK, France, and Germany.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Still, it\u2019s important to note that Murphy believes the chance of an outright TikTon ban in the US is unlikely, as the bill has to pass in the Senate and \u201covercome the inevitable legal challenges\u201d before it\u2019s officially ratified.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">So while, according to \u0160imal\u010d\u00edk, the EU will stick to \u201cits typical approach of precisely targeting specific problems and remedying them,\u201d its member states won\u2019t necessarily follow that same path.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Just_how_dangerous_is_TikTok\"><\/span><strong>Just how dangerous is TikTok?<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">All this paints a slightly confusing picture. It\u2019s clear that European lawmakers are concerned about TikTok and its influence, so it feels somewhat unintuitive that it\u2019s still allowed to operate.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The US talk of a ban makes it clear the country sees it as a threat to national security, while the EU approach gives the message that it just needs a few tweaks to be up to standard \u2014 so what\u2019s the truth?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cTikTok is a powerful app that is open to abuse,\u201d Murphy says. It has a large and active user base and bad actors could use it to spread false or harmful information at incredibly rapid rates.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Beyond this, there are also global political elements in play. \u201cIt is well accepted that TikTok, and all big Chinese tech firms, are under some level of control by the Chinese authorities,\u201d Murphy tells me, \u201cso TikTok is a China \u2018vector\u2019 in that sense.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u0160imal\u010d\u00edk supports much of this. He says that the Chinese government could force ByteDance \u201cto share its data with the party-state apparatus for the sake of advancing China\u2019s political interests.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This, he explains, has its roots in China\u2019s <\/span><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/National_Security_Law_of_the_People%27s_Republic_of_China\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">2015 State Security Act<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and <\/span><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/National_Intelligence_Law_of_the_People%27s_Republic_of_China\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">2017 Intelligence Act<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, something that \u201cobliges all Chinese citizens and companies to assist the government in matters related to China\u2019s national security and intelligence activity.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Nationhood is really the key point here. \u201cFrom a national security perspective, the country of origin makes a big difference in evaluating whether those breaches are \u2018merely\u2019 legal problems, or also translate into a security risk,\u201d \u0160imal\u010d\u00edk says.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">While apps like <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Facebook and Instagram have their own privacy concerns<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, they come from an allied country. But TikTok? And China? That\u2019s a nation many in the West view far more suspiciously.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"What_happens_next\"><\/span><strong>What happens next?<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In regards to the US, the likelihood is not much \u2014 besides a lot of press coverage. Even though it has fired a warning shot across ByteDance\u2019s bow, the chance of the ban coming to pass is quite low. It could happen, sure, but it\u2019d be a surprise.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When it comes to the EU, things are less clear. As Murphy pointed out earlier, the EU will try to use its toolbox of regulations \u2014 the aforementioned DSA, DMA, and GDPR \u2014 to manage and mitigate TikTok.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The issue comes with enforcement, something Murphy sees as \u201ca Sisyphean task.\u201d Considering the EU <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">has had issues doing this in the past<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, it means it\u2019s like \u201cthe threat of abuse will remain.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It seems, then, we\u2019re at somewhat of an impasse. The US is being bold with little chance of success, and the EU is taking a subtler approach with a poor track record of enforcement.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The hope is that TikTok sees this pressure, finds a way to decouple from the Chinese state, and gives solid assurances on any privacy concerns \u2014 but that\u2019s somewhat of a pipe dream. Currently, the way the EU and US are dealing with TikTok feels like a lot of bark and little bite.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">So what does that mean? Well, if you\u2019re a European TikTok fan, you probably don\u2019t need to worry about the app going anywhere soon.<\/span>\n                        <\/div>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMN63nwsw68G3Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more like this article, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/technology\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Technology category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/thenextweb.com\/news\/would-eu-us-ban-tiktok\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The US is getting increasingly aggressive about TikTok. In March, the House of Representatives passed a bill that could see the Chinese social media app banned across the entire country due to security concerns. If signed into law, the bill would give ByteDance \u2014 the company that owns TikTok \u2014 six months to sell the&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":615107,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/img-cdn.tnwcdn.com\/image\/tnw-blurple?filter_last=1&fit=1280%2C640&url=https%3A%2F%2Fcdn0.tnwcdn.com%2Fwp-content%2Fblogs.dir%2F1%2Ffiles%2F2024%2F03%2F51418182235_d4628c2c3c_k-e1711624087298.jpg&signature=105104c9b86d9111d7813bb9e52859fd","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-615106","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/615106","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=615106"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/615106\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/615107"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=615106"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=615106"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=615106"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}