After European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said that the EU "does not rule out" following the United States to completely ban TikTok, the European edition of the American "Politico" news network (politico.eu) published an article on May 3 with the title of "Europe is still far from banning TikTok", saying that although EU officials are trying to set barriers to China's technology industry and launch rounds of investigations, the EU-wide TikTok ban is "unlikely to become a reality".
According to the article, there is no "American-style ban" in the EU's "toolbox", and the EU has its own way of dealing with video applications. In addition, many EU leaders are not only not interested in banning TikTok, but also use the platform that is popular with young people as a "campaign tool". German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and French President Emmanuel Macron both have TikTok accounts, with the latter having 4.2 million followers.
French President Emmanuel Macron's TikTok account
On April 29, local time, European Commission President von der Leyen participated in a political debate as the leading candidate of the center-right European People's Party caucus, and when asked by reporters whether she would follow the US practice and sign a bill to ban TikTok, she declared that "this possibility is not ruled out", and claimed that "we are very aware of the dangers of TikTok", and also called the European Commission "the first institution in the world to ban the use of TikTok on internal devices".
But Politico News Europe pointed out that "across Europe, TikTok doves still have the upper hand over hawks." ”
Kim van Sparrentak, a MEP member from the Dutch center-left party Greens, has been vocal in his opposition to the TikTok ban. She has been involved in the drafting of several major EU science and technology rules, including the Artificial Intelligence Act. "It's a weird way to ban one platform when other platforms are doing the same," she said. ”
Sparentak mentioned that critics have suppressed the platform on the grounds that young people are "addicted to TikTok," but that Instagram and Facebook, which are owned by the American tech company Meta, raise similar concerns.
Dita Charazonvá, a Czech liberal politician and vice president of the European Parliament, said last month that the situation in Europe was different from that of the United States, and that the European Union had introduced a Digital Services Act for the so-called "challenges". The bill requires digital businesses to take more steps to regulate online content, and also sets out accountability standards for online platforms, which apply to businesses that provide digital services to users in the EU.
Under the EU's Digital Services Act, a threshold of 45 million average active users is considered a large online platform, and 22 large service providers such as TikTok, Amazon, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube are subject to relatively more rules.
On January 21, 2021 local time, in Milan, Italy, in the TikTok influencer incubator "Defhouse", Marco Bonetti and Davide Moccia were recording videos. (Source: Visual China)
Politico News mentioned that European parliamentarians are mostly drafting new EU rules that stipulate how platforms such as TikTok regulate online content, how to eliminate illegal content, or prohibit certain "abuse of dominance", but there is no "American-style ban" in the EU's "toolbox".
Just on April 22, the European Commission announced that it would launch a new investigation into whether TikTok's speedy version of TikTok Lite, launched in France and Spain, violated the EU's Digital Services Act, citing the fact that the in-app "Tasks and Rewards Program" feature did not assess the potential risks in advance and did not propose measures to reduce the risks, fearing that it could lead to addiction in children. In response, a TikTok spokesperson said: "We are disappointed with the decision - the TikTok Lite rewards center is not available to users under the age of 18, and there is a daily limit on video viewing tasks. We will continue our discussions with the European Commission. ”
However, due to the EU's pressure to suspend related functions, TikTok announced on April 24 that it would suspend the TikTok Lite "Tasks and Rewards Program" service for new users in France and Spain for 60 days, stop providing this service to existing users before May 1, and suspend the launch of this service in other EU countries.
The European edition of Politico News Network mentioned that the TikTok threat hyped by the United States focused on the app's data could pose a so-called "security risk", and TikTok has repeatedly denied the above accusations. While this concern has spilled over into Europe, there is a problem with the EU-wide proposal to impose a ban that the EU does not have a formal say on national security issues.
Croatian President Zoran Milanovic dismissed von der Leyen's remarks and noted that EU countries should be able to decide for themselves whether to ban the app.
"TikTok doesn't mean much to me, but it means that my kids are free to use it whenever they want. "If we don't want to, why ban it in Croatia, Hungary or Poland?"
In addition, the report mentions that other EU leaders do not seem to be keen on the TikTok ban, and they also see the platform as a "political campaign tool".
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz opened a TikTok account just last month. French President Emmanuel Macron has long been active on TikTok, with 4.2 million followers.
Euronews previously mentioned that EU leaders such as von der Leyen who do not rule out the TikTok ban may pay an election price. Because parties on the fringes of the European Union, especially far-right parties, are attracting followers and potential voters on the platform.
Politico News Europe found in March that between February 15 and March 8, 186 of the 705 MEPs were active on TikTok, a quarter of them from right-wing and far-right groups. 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, a member of the ruling coalition, 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 European Union's requirement last year, tech giants, including TikTok and Alibaba, AliExpress, to conduct risk management and external independent audits in accordance with the provisions of the Digital Services Law. In response to a relevant question in April last year, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said that as a matter of principle, we have always opposed the politicization, weaponization and instrumentalization of economic and trade issues. It is hoped that the EU can provide a fair, transparent, open and non-discriminatory business environment for enterprises from all countries, including Chinese enterprises.
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