Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak has come forward to voice his opinion on a potential ban on TikTok in the United States for alleged “threats to national security”. And it was very clear “It’s the hypocrisy of the government”he assures, citing as an example American companies (Facebook, Google…) which, in his opinion, do the same (or worse).

Last month, the US Congress passed legislation to protect Americans from requests under the control of the Foreign Adversaries Act. The rule has White House approval and, if approved, the Chinese company responsible for TikTok, ByteDance, I would have to sell it for further operation within six months.

It’s a new ultimatum for TikTok, mired in a trade battle between China and the US for years. this pushed Huawei ahead. The arguments now are the same as those made by Donald Trump then and related alleged data espionage and handing over data to the Chinese government. TikTok has already been banned by the Biden administration for use on official federal and other state government facilities. The European Commission adopted measures with similar arguments.

The questions are the same as they were then: Is there a real risk to national security, as the US government says? Or is it the theft of intellectual property, as the Chinese government said in response to Trump’s intention to sell it to an American company, specifically Microsoft?

Steve Wozniak and the TikTok ban

The co-founder of Apple does not mince words and answers everything that is asked of him. Wozniak, who helped found the digital rights group Electronic Frontier Foundationhe said the principle is that you shouldn’t follow someone online without their knowledge should apply to all companies. According to Wozniak, pointing [solo] on an organization like TikTok for its ties to China “government hypocrisy”. “And this is always common in the political sphere”.

“But my god, look at what we’re accusing TikTok of, and then Look at Facebook and Google and see how they do business.«he added. “I mean, Facebook was a great idea. But then they make all their money simply by watching and advertising.”.

Steve Wozniak, like many, doesn’t understand the proposed ban on TikTok and is as candid as usual: “What are we saying? We say: “Oh, the Chinese might be watching you. Well, they learned it from us »assures.

And it is, as we said in the recent “judicial petition” to ban Telegram in Spain: or all or none. Free speech and civil rights groups in the US have vehemently opposed the ban, saying such legislation could have a profound impact on the internet as a whole. The argument is clear: TikTok’s data practices, while problematic, is not significantly different from US-based technology companies. Express offer includes Meta and Google.

“TikTok isn’t perfect, but banning it is the wrong solution”said Jenna Ruddock, policy adviser at media advocacy group Free Press. “Like all popular platforms on the Internet, TikTok collects too much data about its users. But the unilateral dismantling of spaces for free expression limits people’s access to information and limits creators’ ability to build community.”.

With reference to possible sale of TikTok or at least US assets. It recently turned out that One potential buyer would be controversial former Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick with the help of OpenAI chief Sam Altman. “Everything will stay at home” because let’s remember that the company that Trump was most interested in and suggested was Microsoft. It makes sense that in China they are treating this whole case as an armed robbery in order to keep their star social media app cheap.