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☆ Who Is Shou Zi Chew, the TikTok CEO Trying to Reassure America?
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-22 | by ( Stu Woo | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

WASHINGTON—TikTok Chief Executive Officer Shou Zi Chew has navigated both Western and Chinese business over the course of his fast rise to the corner office. That cultural straddle has helped land him the top job at one of the world’s biggest tech companies. His background might now help him connect with a skeptical American Congress. Many members have threatened to ban TikTok, saying its Chinese ownership poses a national-security threat.

☆ TikTok CEO’s Message to Washington: A Sale Won’t Solve Security Concerns
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-16 | by ( Stu Woo | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

WASHINGTON—TikTok’s boss has a message for the Biden administration and Congress: A sale won’t resolve America’s national-security concerns over the popular video app. Chief Executive Shou Zi Chew said in an interview that divesting the company from its Chinese owners—a move the U.S. is now demanding—doesn’t offer any more protection than a multibillion-dollar plan TikTok has already proposed. The plan involves hiring an American partner, Oracle Corp., to store American users’ data and safeguard against any Chinese influence over what videos Americans view on the app.

☆ Why Is the U.S. Threatening to Ban TikTok?
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-16 | by ( Stu Woo | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

The Biden administration has told TikTok its Chinese owners must sell their stakes in the company or else face a nationwide ban on the app. Officials and lawmakers on both sides of the aisle say they are concerned the Chinese government could gain access to Americans’ user data, or could influence what Americans see on the app. The short-form video platform owned by Beijing-headquartered ByteDance Ltd. became a hit during the pandemic, growing to more than 100 million American users and winning ad dollars from U.S. businesses.

☆ ‘This Has to be a Joke.’ Why Tourists Are Stopping in a Tiny Alabama Town to Take Pictures With the Mayor
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-08 | by ( Stu Woo | Photographs Bob Miller For The Wall Street Journal | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

ONEONTA, Ala.—To some Washington lawmakers, TikTok poses a national security threat. Oneonta Mayor Richard Phillips credits the app for putting his small town on the map. Mayor Phillips went viral with a series of TikTok videos suitably named “Mayor Shenanigans.” In one of his first videos, in 2021, he stops by the office of Police Chief Charles Clifton and asks, “Do we have a tank that I can drive?” The chief’s eyes bulge in surprise. “Like with a cannon?” he asks.

☆ Why Tiny Oneonta, Ala., Has Millions of Fans
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-08 | by ( Stu Woo | Photographs Bob Miller For The Wall Street Journal | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

ONEONTA, Ala.—To some Washington lawmakers, TikTok poses a national-security threat. Oneonta Mayor Richard Phillips credits the app for putting his small town on the map. Mayor Phillips went viral with a series of TikTok videos suitably named “Mayor Shenanigans.” In one of his first videos, in 2021, he stops by the office of Police Chief Charles Clifton and asks, “Do we have a tank that I can drive?” The chief’s eyes bulge in surprise. “Like with a cannon?” he asks.

☆ TikTok Commits $1.3 Billion to Build European Safeguards
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-08 | by ( Stu Woo | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

LONDON—TikTok said it would spend about $1.3 billion a year on measures to safeguard European users, as the video app tries to assuage governments that are increasingly concerned about its Chinese parent company. TikTok executives said Wednesday that they would spend 1.2 billion euros annually on such measures, which they call “Project Clover,” an effort first reported earlier this week by The Wall Street Journal. The plans include opening two data centers in Ireland within weeks, and a third center in Norway later this year. They said data of European users, currently stored in Singapore and the U.S., will move to these three sites.

☆ TikTok Rolls Out ‘Project Clover’ to Assure Europeans on Data
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-06 | by ( Stu Woo | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

TikTok executives briefed British political advisers and other policy makers on the video app’s plan to secure the data of European users. LONDON—TikTok executives launched a charm offensive in Britain aimed at convincing politicians that the data of British users are safe, said people familiar with the matter, as a growing list of other governments restrict use of the app. TikTok executives on Monday briefed British political advisers, think tanks and other policy makers on what it described as “Project Clover,” the popular video app’s plan to secure the data of European users, the people said.

Bans on TikTok on government-issued devices in the U.S., the European Union and Canada are prompting lawmakers in some of Washington’s main intelligence-sharing allies to demand that their countries follow suit. Australia and New Zealand haven’t banned TikTok across all government agencies, instead leaving it to individual departments to decide whether their employees can install the app. Australian government departments—including defense—prohibit the installation of TikTok, owned by Beijing-based ByteDance Ltd., but some lawmakers say the lack of a blanket ban creates unnecessary national security risks.

The European Commission has banned its staff from using the TikTok app on their work-issued devices, widening across the Atlantic a patchwork of similar, limited bans affecting U.S. officials. The move, which would affect thousands of employees of the European Union’s top executive body, comes as officials in Europe and the U.S. scrutinize TikTok, owned by Beijing-based ByteDance Ltd., over security concerns.

☆ China’s Newest Weapon to Nab Western Technology—Its Courts
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-20 | by ( Stu Woo | Daniel Michaels | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

The growing conflict between China and the U.S. extends from computer-chip factories to a suspected spy balloon over American skies. Running through it all is a struggle for technological superiority. China has striven for years to develop cutting-edge technologies, in part through heavy spending on research. Now, according to Western officials and executives, it also has mobilized its legal system to pry technology from other nations.

☆ TikTok Commits to Two New Data Centers in Europe
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-17 | by ( Stu Woo | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

LONDON—TikTok said it planned to build two new data centers in Europe in addition to a previously announced one, as the Chinese-owned video-sharing app tries to address security concerns in Europe and the U.S.TikTok, in announcing the data-center plans Friday, also disclosed it had 125 million monthly active users in the European Union. As part of the EU’s new Digital Services Act, the 27-country bloc had set Friday as the deadline for online platforms to report user totals. The biggest companies—defined as those with more than 45 million users—must meet additional requirements to reduce what the EU says is the risk of harm on their platforms.

☆ TikTok’s Parent Takes On Meta in Battle for Virtual-Reality Market
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-12 | by ( Meghan Bobrowsky | Stu Woo | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

ByteDance Ltd., the China-based owner of TikTok, is starting to snare market share in the virtual-reality headset space that Meta Platforms Inc. has identified as critical to its future. Two years ago, ByteDance bought Pico, a Chinese startup that makes VR headsets. That launched a new front in the Chinese company’s competition with Meta , whose Instagram and Facebook services have been battling for users and advertising dollars against TikTok as the short-video app soared in popularity.

☆ TikTok’s Transparency Campaign Echoes Effort by Huawei to Ease Security Concerns
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-02 | by ( Georgia Wells | Stu Woo | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

CULVER CITY, Calif.—TikTok is trying to win Washington’s trust with a playbook recalling the unsuccessful strategy that another Chinese-owned company, Huawei Technologies Co., took in the U.S. and swaths of Europe. As part of its push to demonstrate openness to U.S. authorities, TikTok this week gave journalists a tour of what it calls its Transparency and Accountability Center. In an office park in this city next to Los Angeles, screens explained how TikTok moderates and recommends the short-form videos on its app.

☆ TikTok Tries to Win Allies in the U.S. With More Transparency
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-16 | by ( Georgia Wells | Stu Woo | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

TikTok, the video-sharing app, has revealed details of a $1.5 billion plan to reorganize the company’s U.S. operations. Two years into negotiations with U.S. regulators about whether TikTok will be able to remain in the country, the popular video-sharing app is trying a new tack: increased transparency. In recent conversations with Washington lawmakers and civil-society organizations, TikTok has revealed details of a complex, $1.5 billion plan to reorganize the company’s U.S. operations, according to people familiar with the discussions.

☆ TikTok Chief Meets With Top EU Officials
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-10 | by ( Stu Woo | Daniel Michaels | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Shou Zi Chew has been chief executive officer of TikTok since 2021. BRUSSELS—TikTok’s chief executive met European Union officials to discuss the Chinese-owned company’s plan to comply with new EU rules and concerns over TikTok’s recent disclosure that it surveilled two journalists. The Tuesday meetings come shortly before new European tech legislation takes effect and amid heightened scrutiny of the social-media giant in the U.S. TikTok requested the meetings, both sides said.

☆ TikTok CEO Plans to Meet European Union Regulators
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-06 | by ( Stu Woo | Laurence Norman | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew is set to meet with the European Union’s antitrust chief and other officials. TikTok Chief Executive Shou Zi Chew is scheduled to meet with European Union officials and regulators in Brussels next week, as the popular app faces heightened scrutiny in Washington over its Chinese ownership. Mr. Chew is scheduled to meet with Margrethe Vestager , the executive vice president of the EU’s executive arm and its top competition regulator, on Tuesday. He also plans to meet Justice Commissioner Didier Reynders , Home Affairs Commissioner Ylva Johansson and Vice President for Values and Transparency Vera Jourova .

☆ How 'Real Housewife' Jen Shah's fabulous life came crashing down
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-06 | by ( Stephanie Clifford | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +43 min

The woman wrote to the judge overseeing Shah's case that she'd had to remortgage her house, almost divorced, and "thought about ending my own life." The couple decided that he should get his degree while Jen Shah dropped out of college to work. (Shah told a judge at her 2022 plea hearing that she had been treated for "alcohol and depression" two years prior. Koa Johnson, Jen Shah's former fashion designerWhen Sharrieff Shah did participate in filming, he quickly became a fan favorite, calm and sensible. Once the show aired and Jen Shah developed a fan base, her behavior became more dramatic, Johnson said.

☆ TikTok Wins a Vote in South Dakota
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-05 | by ( Stu Woo | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Rapid City, S.D., went in the opposite direction from politicians across the country who want restrictions against TikTok. While the federal government and at least 18 states have restricted access to TikTok on government-owned devices in recent weeks, South Dakota’s second-largest city has gone the other way. Rapid City’s city council voted 8-1 earlier this week to kill a proposal that would have banned access to TikTok on city devices and networks. The ban also would have prohibited city agencies from using the popular app.

☆ TikTok Ban Debate Moves From Washington to Main Street
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-02 | by ( Stu Woo | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Rapid City’s council is set to consider a proposal to ban TikTok from city-owned devices and networks. One of the earliest public debates about blacklisting TikTok in the U.S. isn’t taking place in Washington. It is happening in South Dakota’s second-most populous city. The Rapid City council on Tuesday will consider a proposal to ban TikTok from city-owned devices and networks, and to prohibit city agencies from using the app. Championing the idea is a councilman—and potential mayoral candidate—who calls TikTok a security threat.

TikTok is used by more than 100 million Americans, and businesses see it as a way to connect with customers. Security concerns over TikTok have led some Biden administration officials to push for a sale of the Chinese-owned company’s U.S. operations to ensure Beijing can’t harness the app for espionage and political influence, according to people familiar with the situation. The proposal for a forced sale has arisen in discussions by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S., an interagency government panel that has been negotiating with TikTok for more than two years on a way to wall off the company’s data and operations from the Chinese government, the people said.

☆ India's e-bus ambition hits financing speed bump
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-17 | by ( Sarita Chaganti Singh | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Mahesh Babu, chief executive of e-bus maker Switch Mobility, said that "most of the contracts related to STUs are seen by banks as high risk" and called for payment security for bus makers. Financing diesel buses is safer because in the case of any default, banks can repossess the asset and easily redeploy it. A Tata Motors spokesperson said there was a need for "adequate safeguards with appropriate payment security mechanisms" to make such ventures bankable. A federal government official, on the condition of anonymity, said they would consider the demands of the industry. The Ministry of Heavy Industries, which is promoting the use of e-buses, did not immediately respond to a email seeking comment.

☆ How Republicans are 'playing to the Fox News crowd' with attacks on TikTok
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-13 | by ( Oliver Darcy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

New York CNN —Republicans are escalating their attacks on TikTok. “It’s playing to the Fox News crowd,” a person close to TikTok, who requested anonymity because they were not publicly authorized to speak on the matter, said on Tuesday. The posturing comes at a pivotal moment in the years-long negotiations between TikTok and the US government on a potential deal that aims to address national security concerns and allow the app’s continued use in the US. But, as The WSJ recently reported, the national security talks have hit a snag as pressure mounts on the company. But the type of action being taken by Republicans seems more geared toward playing to their base than anything else.

☆ The US may have lost in the World Cup, but soccer is more popular than ever in America
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-12 | by ( Harry Enten | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +36 min

The Atlas Lions made history as the first African team to reach a World Cup semifinal. They made history as the first all-female refereeing crew for a men's World Cup match. It was Morocco's first World Cup win since 1998 — and its third-ever at the tournament. Less spoken about is that they also rate better on television than the men do in the World Cup. We’ll just have to wait and see, though with the US, Canada and Mexico hosting the 2026 World Cup, soccer isn’t going away anytime soon.

☆ Fabergé or Fauxbergé? The Justice Department Battles Experts Over Seized Russian Egg
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( Stu Woo | Aruna Viswanatha | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

When a U.S. Justice Department official said in July the agency might have seized a Fabergé egg on a Russian yacht, the world’s Fabergé experts had one reaction:We’ll believe it when we see it.

☆ TikTok Faces U.S. Clampdowns After South Dakota Restrictions
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( Stu Woo | Ben Kesling | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

U.S. politicians from both parties in Washington are threatening a ban on TikTok. South Dakota is already implementing a partial one. Kristi Noem , a Republican, issued an executive order banning TikTok from state agencies over national-security concerns stemming from the app’s Chinese ownership. The state tourism department has since deleted its TikTok account, which had 60,000 followers. The state’s six public universities are evaluating next steps later this week.

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