The White House has issued an executive order which will block all transactions with ByteDance, TikTok’s parent corporation, positioned as a national security move. The order has a 45-day deadline.
I feel almost obligated to comment on this story as it’s dominated general tech conversations all week, but I maintain it’s a distraction by the administration, and why I don’t do daily coverage of it.
There a portion of this story that I do think technology services companies care about, and it is the governments apparent position on the internet… specifically, the idea of the bifrication of the internet. These moves are on Chinese companies, and set a very different government policy of intervention that previously. This could very much accelerate the split of the internet into components, and consider what similar moves by the EU against American companies might look like.
For me, this is a very dangerous space for the US to move into. This can have very significant effects on the way business is done and how it is done online. That’s the impact to watch.