European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen threatened: It is not ruled out that TikTok will be banned in the EU

Observer.com

2024-05-01 12:19Posted on the official account of Shanghai Observer.com

On April 29, local time, European Commission President von der Leyen claimed that it would not rule out that she would follow the example of the United States and completely ban TikTok in the European Union. Earlier this month, U.S. President Joe Biden signed into law a "ban or sell it" bill passed by Congress involving TikTok, which China accused of putting the U.S. in opposition to the principle of fair competition and international economic and trade rules.

According to the European edition of the American political news network "Politico EU", on the same day, when asked by reporters whether she would follow the US practice and sign a bill to ban TikTok, von der Leyen replied, "This possibility is not ruled out", and claimed that "we are very aware of the dangers of TikTok".

Subsequently, she added that the European Commission was "the first body in the world to ban the use of TikTok on internal devices".

Elections to the new European Parliament are scheduled for June this year. On the 29th local time, the main candidates of the European Union political parties participated in the election debate in Maastricht, the Netherlands. According to Politico EU, although von der Leyen made the above statement as the leading candidate of the center-right European People's Party caucus, it is another bad news for TikTok in Europe.

Von der Leyen (right) attended the European Parliament election debate on the 29th, the picture comes from the Dutch media

The European Parliament elections, known as the "European elections", are held every five years. This parliamentary election will be the first after Brexit and is regarded as a "weather vane" of European politics. Previously, some media pointed out that looking at the whole of Europe, this year will be a year of "turning right", which is a great variable for the Russia-Ukraine conflict and other international hot issues.

Euronews mentioned that the European Commission's team of presidents had previously said that von der Leyen would not use TikTok as part of her campaign strategy. However, as the election approaches, the European Union continues to introduce measures against TikTok.

In February, the European Commission launched its first investigation process against TikTok to assess whether TikTok violated the Digital Services Act in the areas of protection of minors, transparency in advertising, access to data by researchers, and risk management of anti-addictive design and harmful content.

On April 22, the European Commission announced that it would launch a new investigation into whether TikTok Lite violated the European Union's Digital Services Act (DSA) and intended to suspend the in-app "task and reward program", citing the app's failure to assess the risks posed by the features in question in advance and to propose measures to reduce them, fearing that it could lead to child addiction and a "risk of serious damage to the mental health of users."

In response, TikTok's European team said in a statement: "TikTok always seeks constructive cooperation with the European Commission and other regulators. As a result, we voluntarily paused the bonus feature in TikTok Lite while addressing the concerns they raised. ”

The von der Leyen campaign also said a few days ago that von der Leyen will give up using TikTok before the election to show her tough attitude towards TikTok.

Screenshot of TikTok's statement

However, Euronews mentioned that the attitude of EU leaders such as von der Leyen towards TikTok may pay an election price. Because parties on the fringes of the EU, especially far-right parties, are using personal and politically charged content on the platform to attract followers and potential voters.

Reuters reported in early April that TikTok has become a "fashion item" for European leaders and is widely popular in European political circles, despite the so-called "security concerns" vigorously advocated by politicians in the United States and Western countries. At present, European dignitaries such as French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, and Irish Prime Minister Simon Harris are active on TikTok.

A report by the Reuters Institute for Journalism last year found that fewer people trust traditional media and more people turn to TikTok for news. TikTok is the fastest-growing social network in the report, with 20% of 18- to 24-year-olds using TiKTok for news advisories.

Politico EU found in March that between February 15 and March 8, 186 of the 705 MEPs were active on TikTok, with a quarter coming from right-wing and far-right groups, with only a handful of far-left MPs able to match them. Analysts and political advisers agree that social media, especially TikTok, has become a key battleground for European politicians to compete for the next generation of voters.

In Belgium, government ministers and civil servants are banned from installing TikTok on work devices, but politicians have chosen to circumvent this rule. A spokesman for the Green Party, one of the ruling coalitions, said: "Another reason we use TikTok is that we don't want to leave this space to the far left or the far right. Young people get their news through social media, and TikTok is one of the biggest platforms. Some politicians are comfortable with this, others are not. ”

In response to the continuous suppression of Chinese companies such as TikTok by the United States and the West, China has repeatedly stated its position. In March this year, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said that the relevant bills of the US Congress put the United States in opposition to the principle of fair competition and international economic and trade rules. If the so-called "national security" reason can be used to arbitrarily suppress the excellent enterprises of other countries, then there is no fairness and justice at all, and it is completely bandit logic to try to take the good things of others for themselves.

Wang Wenbin pointed out that the U.S. handling of the TikTok incident will make the world see more clearly whether the so-called rules and order of the United States are beneficial to the world or only serve the United States itself.

This article is an exclusive manuscript of Observer.com and may not be reproduced without authorization.

View original image 62K

• 

•