Much like the long-standing debate around 5G, President Trump’s recent decision to sign an executive order that may see TikTok and WeChat banned, and has now evolved into a bidding war for TikTok’s U.S. operations with Oracle leading as the potential winner, has brought the world’s attention to the inherent security challenges that complex global digital communications and connectivity present.
When it comes to both issues, much of the conversation to date has focused on trying to decipher the intentions of one particular supplier, be it Huawei, or Tencent and ByteDance – the Chinese tech giants behind WeChat and TikTok, respectively. In both cases, taking a ‘hard stance’ on China, under the justification of national security, has constituted a significant element of Trump’s re-election campaign.