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What was a turbulent enough week for TikTok turned downright bizarre.
Already, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had warned that the Trump administration was looking at banning the short-video platform owned by Beijing-based parent ByteDance Ltd over data-privacy concerns, and President Donald Trump himself said he was considering banning TikTok as one way to retaliate against China over the coronavirus. Then things got worse when Amazon.com sent an email to employees telling them to delete the TikTok app from mobile devices they use to access company email, citing “security risks.â€
The bizarre part happened just hours after that, when Amazon issued a statement saying the email it had sent to its employees was “in error†and there was no change in their policies toward TikTok. All clear? Not quite.
For sure, the company dodged a bullet. But it is unknown whether Amazon intends to resend a similar email on TikTok policy in the future; clearly, someone drafted something. And the government threats remain. Not only that: The prospect of a potential ban has brought widespread anxiety to the TikTok community. In recent days, many creators posted tearful “goodbye†videos, with some asking their viewers to follow their accounts on other platforms such as YouTube and Instagram. What has been a slow boil of troublesome developments risks cascading into a full-blown public relations crisis. Whether or not the security concerns are justified or the motivations political, TikTok can and should do a lot more to address them and take more control of the narrative. TikTok’s responses, thus far, have been low-key. The company has said it keeps its user data in the US with backups in Singapore and has never provided data to the Chinese government. In response to the initial Amazon news, it said in a statement that “user security is of the utmost importance†to TikTok, adding it hadn’t heard from Amazon about its concerns and looks forward to a “dialogue so we can address any issues†the tech giant may have.
A more proactive response is in order, and here are some things TikTok can do. First, statements aren’t enough. Where is TikTok’s CEO? Earlier this year, ByteDance hired former Walt Disney executive Kevin Mayer to head up TikTok. You’d think the veteran media executive would be the perfect ambassador to help tamp down concerns. He needs to get out there and explain TikTok’s side of the story, whether in interviews to print press or on TV.
—Bloomberg