Icon: enlarge
Huawei manager Richard Yu at the presentation of new smartphones in Shanghai
Photo: Huanqiu.com / VCG / Getty Images
TikTok, of all things.
Hardly anyone could have dreamed that this app has what it takes to trigger geopolitical upheavals.
With her short music and dance videos, she has been extremely popular since her launch in 2016.
More than two billion people had downloaded the app onto their mobile phones by September, and most fans are between 16 and 25 years old.
This makes TikTok the most loaded application in the app stores worldwide, no social network is growing faster.
Above all, users love the »Lipsync«, which allows you to upload your own videos with the appropriate lip movements for popular songs.
What could be more harmless?
But then US President Donald Trump, at 74 years of age not exactly a representative of the core target group, decreed that the app could no longer be downloaded in the USA from September onwards.
Why?
Because TikTok does not come from Silicon Valley, but started under the name Douyin in China.
The parent company ByteDance is based in Beijing.
Read more with Spiegel Plus
More perspectives, more understanding.
Your advantages with SPIEGEL +
Icon: Check
SPIEGEL as a magazine
as an app, e-paper and on the e-reader
Icon: Check
All articles on SPIEGEL.de
Exclusive texts for SPIEGEL + readers
Icon: Check
Try one month for free
Cancel anytime online
A price
only € 19.99 per month
One month for € 0.00
Try now for 0.00 € Buy nowArrow to the right
Already have a digital subscription? Register here
Restore iTunes subscription
SPIEGEL + is processed via your iTunes account and paid for with a purchase confirmation.
24 hours before it expires, the subscription is automatically renewed by one month at the current price of 19.99 €
You can cancel the subscription at any time in the settings of your iTunes account.
In order to use SPIEGEL + outside of this app, you must link the subscription to a SPIEGEL ID account immediately after purchase.
With the purchase you accept our general terms and conditions and privacy policy.
