If the President of the United States is to be believed (and your mileage may vary on that one), then an executive order regarding TikTok‘s operating status will arrive any day now. Trump and his allies have indicated that they have completed a deal that will avert the looming U.S. TikTok ban by establishing American ownership of a new app that has been tentatively dubbed M2.
Based on what we know at this point, the general idea seems to be that the current version of TikTok will remain available across the world. The ownership group involved in the deal will take control of M2, which will feature technology licensed from ByteDance and data guardianship courtesy of Oracle. In theory, Americans will be able to continue interacting with the TikTok algorithm they love while benefiting from an added layer of security.
In practice, however, the proposed setup raises a lot of questions, and lawmakers in Australia have put their fingers on one of the biggest stumpers: What about the rest of the world? Will TikTokers outside the U.S. be stuck with the original app, or will they get the chance to move over to M2 as well?
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Reports related to the dealings have typically characterized M2 as an app that will cater exclusively to Americans, but many U.S.-based TikTok users enjoy videos from international creators. After M2 goes live, will those viewers still be able to catch up on the latest Khaby Lame and Tibo InShape content, or will they have to go to other platforms (or use a VPN) to do that?
Some foreign politicians would love to give M2 a try for themselves. In Australia, where an upcoming law is set to restrict social media use for individuals under 18, there are concerns about the data privacy issues that have dogged TikTok parent company ByteDance for years. “It would be an unfortunate thing if there was a safe version of TikTok in the United States, but a version of TikTok in Australia which was still controlled by a foreign authoritarian government,” Australian Senator James Paterson told Sky News.
Given the rumor that the Australian Murdoch family is set to get a piece of Trump’s TikTok deal through News Corp, Down Under denizens could have a logical in for access to M2. But the situation isn’t so simple. Digital rights watchdogs have described the U.S. deal as “baffling” and have argued that M2 users will still be subjected to “constant and intrusive surveillance of the user base.”
The final terms of the deal will hopefully provide more clarity regarding foreign involvement in M2. Without its global community, TikTok wouldn’t be a cultural tour de force the way it is now. If the U.S. government isn’t considering the importance of diversity on the For You Page, then the user experience on M2 could leave a lot to be desired.
