How does TikTok, who walks on the steel line behind Chess Hong Kong, respond to international changes?

The world says

Written by: Wu Zhenzhong

2020-07-08 18:30

"Reuters" revealed yesterday (7th) that TikTok, a mobile app owned by ByteDance based in Beijing, China, decided to suspend operations in Hong Kong. On the same day, Zhang Nan, CEO of ByteDance China, said that Douyin, which faces the domestic market, will continue to provide services to Hong Kong users.

In the final analysis, the move of byte beating is still a self-protection under the transient world.

After the implementation of the National Security Act, ByteDance's mobile app TikTok decided to suspend operations in Hong Kong. (Photo by Liang Pengwei)

To understand why byte beating removed TikTok from Hong Kong, we must first distinguish the difference between TikTok and Douyin.

ByteDance’s short video social application, the overseas version for the international market is called "TikTok"; the Chinese version is called "Douyin Short Video" (English media will call it "Douyin", and it is the same as the overseas version "TikTok" to distinguish). Although TikTok and Douyin are identical in logo, interface and function, they are two completely separate platforms: TikTok and Douyin users cannot communicate with each other, nor can they see the content on the other platform. Even if it is an account, you must re-register # .

# Mobile apps in Mainland China usually distinguish between Chinese and overseas versions. For example, Tencent's WeChat communication software, the Chinese version and the overseas version will be different in function (such as overseas version users can see the mainland WeChat public account), but users can still communicate with each other. However, similar to TikTok and Douyin, the functions are the same, but they are completely divided into two platforms and cannot communicate with each other, which is relatively rare.

In September 2016, Douyin was launched in the app store in Mainland China. TikTok was subsequently released in 2017 in overseas regions outside of mainland China. However, ByteDance won't wait until August 2018 to merge another short video social app, music.ly, which was originally acquired for $1 billion, with TikTok before finally landing on the US market.

ByteDance claims that the two platforms TikTok and Douyin use separate data servers. TikTok, which is specially designed for overseas markets, transmits all user data to servers in the United States for storage, and also sends them to servers in Singapore for backup.

TikTok, specifically designed for overseas markets, ByteDance claims that its user data will be transmitted to US servers for storage. (Reuters)

Exaggerated overseas layout

TikTok, which has succeeded in overseas markets in recent years, has hundreds of millions of monthly active users. TikTok's two major markets are located in India and the United States, with approximately 200 million downloads and 41 million downloads in 2019. TikTok ranks 7th among the most downloaded mobile app rankings in the past decade, which is higher than YouTube, Twitter, Linkedin and other social media platforms-and TikTok has only been available for three to four years.

ByteDance is one of the few science and technology companies that have achieved commercial success both in mainland China and overseas. Although they are the traditional giants of Baidu, Alibaba, and Tencent, their overseas coverage and customer stickiness (customer stickiness) The degree of interaction is not as international and in-depth as TikTok.

Especially during the New Coronary Pneumonia epidemic, countries have implemented house orders, and TikTok's global downloads have increased significantly, including the US market. According to Sensor Tower data, as of the first half of 2020, TikTok has accumulated 180 million downloads in the United States alone.

TikTok's June revenue of nearly US$100 million was the world's highest-income non-gaming app for the month

TikTok has hundreds of millions of monthly active users worldwide. The picture shows that in 2019, a user tried to open the TikTok app on his phone. (Reuters)

U.S.-India fought against the weird international change

However, misfortune will follow. The new coronary pneumonia epidemic has also created a global political and economic change that has not been seen in this century. A vicious confrontation between China and the United States has spread from the trade war last year to the field of science and technology.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and President Donald Trump have previously revealed that Washington is considering the ban on social apps from China, including TikTok, by domestic citizens. In an interview with Fox News, Vice President Mike Pence also reiterated that the United States will take a hard-line position on Chinese companies and entities that may endanger national security and "avoid damage from the Chinese Communist Party."

Pence reiterated that Washington will toughen TikTok from the Chinese Communist Party

Trump confirms Washington considers disabling TikTok

Pompeo: The US is considering blocking Chinese social apps including TikTok

"Reuters" also reported that the US Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Justice are investigating whether TikTok violated the agreement to protect children's privacy.

On the other side, India, which is TikTok's largest overseas market, also experienced a sharp deterioration in its relations with China because of a border conflict with China. India’s domestic “strike to buy Chinese goods” and “abandon made in China” are spreading in the field of Internet technology: On June 29, India officially announced the ban on the use of 59 Chinese mobile phone applications, including TikTok, which has 200 million Indian users.

The two major overseas markets of the United States and India have successively dropped shock bombs on TikTok, and at the same time attacked. Deeply trapped in the quagmire of the current diplomatic situation, why not worry about teaching bytes?

Indian Internet "fat pork": 1.4 billion people market yet to be developed

India has photos of anti-China demonstrators burning Chinese President Xi Jinping. (AP)

The strategy behind Chess Hong Kong

In the past two years, ByteDance has beaten the world’s largest unicorn with an estimated market value of 75 billion US dollars (about 116.25 billion Hong Kong dollars). There have been many listings, but the management’s attitude is ambiguous and its intended destination Whether it is in the United States or Hong Kong has not been commented on. Time is now an important juncture, how to control the risk of byte bounce in response to changes in the world is crucial.

ByteDance’s latest initiative was to announce the withdrawal of TikTok from Hong Kong yesterday (7th), the same day the implementation rules of the Minato City National Security Act were gazetted.

As of August last year, TikTok has approximately 150,000 users in Hong Kong. Some analysts believe that the plan to withdraw from Hong Kong has little effect on the parent company’s earnings.

The implementation rules of the "National Security Act of the Minato District" state that with the approval of the Director of the Security Bureau, the Commissioner of Police may authorize designated personnel to request platform service providers of electronic platforms to take actions against electronic messages, and will also provide relevant information as required by the circumstances. Identity record or decryption assistance.

Google, Facebook, Twitter and other US Kewang companies have announced a suspension of processing user data claims made by law enforcement agencies in Hong Kong.

In response to the relevant laws and regulations of the "Minato City National Security Law", a number of maritime surgical network companies, including Google, Facebook, Twitter and Telegram, have previously announced a suspension of processing user data claims made by law enforcement agencies in Hong Kong.

ByteDance's move to withdraw TikTok from Hong Kong can be seen as "synchronizing" with the response of US companies such as Facebook, Twitter, Google, etc. to the National Security Law, avoiding content review restrictions and law enforcement agencies claiming users after the National Security Law takes effect Regulations such as data requirements, so as to avoid byte beating from the dilemma of "protecting freedom of expression" and "fulfilling local regulations".

One thing to pay attention to is: ByteDance has not withdrawn vibrato for the Mainland China market from Hong Kong at the same time. ByteDance China CEO Zhang Nan came out the same day and said that Douyin "will continue to provide services to Hong Kong users." In other words, ByteDance intends to place Hong Kong within the service area of ​​Douyin.

In this way, assuming that the Hong Kong government requires the electronic platform to claim user information according to the authorization of the National Security Law, and Douyin complies with the laws and regulations, it will naturally not refuse the request, thus meeting the Chinese government’s Internet and national security regulations.

After the national security law came into effect, the content review restrictions, law enforcement agencies’ claims for user data, and other regulations, the boundaries are unclear. (AP)

The content review of TikTok, which specializes in overseas markets, is far less stringent than the need to comply with Chinese Internet regulations. Douyin does this to ensure that it no longer provides a dissemination platform for some Hong Kong users suspected of violating national security laws. In the case of unpredictable boundaries, unnecessary regulatory troubles are eliminated.

Under the prerequisite of circumventing China's Internet and national security regulations, at the same time retain the maximum possible trust of TikTok in overseas markets, mainly in the United States.

ByteDance's latest move to withdraw TikTok from Hong Kong may be the most effective and feasible way to walk on the steel line connecting the two mountains of China and the United States.

International Topic Douyin Byte Beats Hong Kong Version of National Security Law Sino-US Trade War Sino-US Relations Sino-US Trade Sino-Indian Relations Sino-Indian Conflict