Sell off or shut down: TikTok faces US ban

Welcome to Access Asia. I’m Yuka Hoyer, and here’s what’s coming up in this show. India’s ruling party goes all out to woo voters in the southern state of Kerala, a bastion of the left. Voters there are not easy for the Hindu nationalists to convince. the United States has passed a law that could potentially ban TikTok over national security concerns. And it’s not the only country taking measures against the widely popular app. We’ll take a closer look. The influence of business is booming in one of the most connected nations in the world. We look at how money making on social media has taken Indonesia by storm in India. Attention has turned to Kerala, which holds the largest number of seats in phase two of the ongoing parliamentary elections. The southern state has for years resisted the advance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist party. In the last Lok Sabha elections, the BJP didn’t win a single seat. There, the party has doubled down on efforts to promote its platform. Our team on the ground went to find out members of prime ministers, Hindu nationalist party, the BJP, take to the streets of the southern Indian city of Alleppey. Their mission is to convince voters in this predominantly Hindu area to vote for the BJP candidate in the upcoming election. Across India, the people of Kerala are not easily convinced by our party because their mentality is set up to believe the BJP is a fundamentalist organization. In this state of Kerala, the percentage of religious minorities is higher than the national average. Christians and Muslims make up 45% of the population, which rejects Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist policies. On his part, the Prime Minister tried his best to win over the Catholic community by meeting with church representatives in 2023. Not enough to convince Father Jose. The people of Kerala are politically aware. This is exactly why the fundamentalists haven’t been able to impose themselves so far. Kerala is a place that believes in the secular fabric of India and defends the Constitution as it is. So fundamentalists have no place here. A bastion of the Left, Kerala will witness a fight between the BJP and an alliance of the Congress and the Communist Party, a coalition predicted to win in the polls. Shashi Tharoor is seeking a fourth term as an MP from the state. He believes that BJP’s Hindutva appeal won’t thrive in Kerala. Christian community has seen the experiences of Christians under BJP rule in other parts of the country. They have seen attacks on Christians in various churches and homes in the course of Christmas week last year and the year before in northern Indian states. And therefore, they don’t trust anything the BJP says to the Christian community here. In the four decades of BJP’s existence, none of its candidates have ever won an MP seat from here. Cerilla remains the only state in the country where Modi’s magic hasn’t worked. So far. U.S. President Joe Biden has signed into law national security legislation that targets TikTok, the social media apps. Chinese owner Byte Dance has been given about nine months to either sell its business or face a ban in the United States. The company has vowed to fight in the cause. With me to talk more about this is France and Default’s tech editor, Peter O’Brien. Hi, Peter. Now, it’s been reported that Byte Dance would prefer to shut down Tiktok in the US rather than sell it. Why is it? Well, honestly, they might not have much of A choice. Who’s gonna want to buy such an expensive app, which is such a political hot potato in the United States? Even if they do find a buyer, Beijing will likely attempt to block a sale under its technology export rules. It’s already suggested it would do such a thing. Now The Information is reporting that perhaps bike dancers looking to sell TikTok without its algorithm, its core technology, which drives such, you know, addictive feeds on the platform. But, you know, that’s it’s core selling point. So I’m not really seeing that happening. So there’s a lot of secrets surrounding that algorithm. Yeah, exactly. It’s a, it’s a massive trade secret. It’s probably one of the most well functioning, addictive if that’s what you’re going for video feeds around. So in terms of what’s left as options, one is to shut down, as you say. The other is obviously this legal battle, which we’re already seeing the Chinese government throw its political weight behind. Why does China care so much? Well, it depends who you ask. In China, TikTok is seen as an example of the prowess of Beijing’s technology. You know, China’s technological power around the world. If you look at the US, well, lawn makers, the majority of them will tell you that TikTok is being used for espionage and it’s being used for propaganda. Now, in the public, we haven’t seen vast amounts of evidence for this, but Bytedance is headquartered in Beijing, which means it’s subject to laws in China which require data to be handed over to authorities if there’s a national security concern. If it wasn’t obvious already, TikTok is a very important strategic tool for China. If not now, then in the future. If there’s to be a conflict between the US and China, well, it would have a way to access vast amounts of young people in the West easily, should it choose to do so. Hence the consternation in the US. But there’s been a precedent, hasn’t there? Chinese owned dating up grinder. It was forced to sell the its U.S. business on national security grounds. What’s different this time? Yeah. So that was in 2020 and it was it. It was a much easier sell, if you like. So China wasn’t exactly about to throw all its weight behind what what is a niche dating app? I mean, it was sold for $600 million, which compared to what Tik Tok’s worth, which could be in excess of $100 billion. We’re not talking about the same scale whatsoever. Also, the complaints are very different. So Grinder collects highly personal data, including users, HIV status, and the US government was worried that China would use this to blackmail U.S. citizens. So it’s just it’s not the same strategic importance to China. In fact, they didn’t even, you know, they agreed to sell immediately after the US sort of asked them to do so. It’s not just in the United States. India banned TikTok back in 2020 after military clap clashes with China. What happened after the ban? Yes, that was also in 2020 and you had this military clash on the border with 20 Indian soldiers dying and four Chinese soldiers being killed. This was a new low in relations between the two countries. And as result, India banned TikTok is now banned more than 500 Chinese apps. Obviously there was a immediately consternation and despair for users of Tiktok that used it to sell their whatever their small businesses were doing. Of course it’s a massive e-commerce platform now, but after a few months we saw the market consolidate with YouTube shorts launch and Instagram reels. So actually they’ve managed to capture most of the market share from Tiktok in India. So if if TikTok does leave, the US will likely see a similar consolidation benefiting the others. The European Union has also opened investigations against Tiktok, but not on national security grounds. That’s right. So this is part of their push to protect children from addictive, harmful social media. Tiktok has suspended a feature that would that was going to allow users to watch videos in return for vouchers. Now, the European Commission complained that this would be addictive to youngsters, but it’s nothing compared to what the US has just done. And if we look at how the EU has followed the US previously, for instance, banning TikTok from the official government phones like many Western countries have done, it’s we’re seeing a different approach now. And and Politico is reporting that actually we’re not seeing any kind of similar move to ban or divest TikTok outright in the in the EU. Well, Peter O’Brien, thank you for your insight. You’re welcome and we stay online. Indonesia is among the world’s most connected nations, and almost half of its 280 million inhabitants spend more than three hours a day on average on social media. Making a career as an influencer has become many children’s dream, not only for fame, but for the money it could bring. Andrew Hillier and our colleagues at France Television have this story. Inside this building is a hive of activity Squeezed into these compartments. Hundreds of influencers are streaming live and selling everything from teapots to cosmetics. 38 year old Ed Ozell is the man behind it all. Once an influencer himself, he has more than 3,000,000 followers. Now as a businessman, he’s created this virtual megastore with an annual turnover of €1,000,000. They sell pajamas, home livings. This is one of the popular brands some men clothings and this is one of the national teams official jersey, so they have their own separate rooms. This is one of the top sellers. More than 250 brands are on sale here from unknown makes to household names. They pay €1800 every month to have their products both sold here and showcased on social media with photos and video. We simply made an application that puts small businesses in touch with sellers. We’re a bit like Uber, which puts drivers in touch with passengers. Well, we’re the same, but with all of these products. Celine has been working here for six months. She’s 19 and sells her products live on Instagram, generating back-to-back sales. She takes home a monthly salary of €400 in a country where the minimum wage is €300 and she only has to work 3 hours per day. I love this work. It complements my studies. Online shopping is big business in Indonesia, worth €52 billion per year. It’s one of the world’s most connected countries. 139 million people are signed up to social media networks, countless influences with millions of followers. And it’s a line of work that’s drawing in more and more young Indonesians. In this private school in a Jakarta suburb. Social media is even offered as a class, and it’s one of the most popular courses available. So that’s a tripod. Then you use your telephone like a camera. It’s very important to use the light. It looks better aesthetically. These marketing students are between 15 and 16 years old. During the lessons, which last four hours, they’re taught strategy and how to put it into practice. Door to door, Traditional door to door sales is a thing of the past. It’s tiring and limited. Online selling is the future. I want to be an influencer because I want to be known throughout the world. Indonesia has become a stomping ground for online sales platforms. Analysts expect the sector to generate an annual turnover of €80 billion by 2029. That’s all for this edition of Access Asia. Don’t forget you can watch this and all our previous episodes on france24.com or listen to them wherever you get your podcasts. See you next time.