August 20, 2020
Beyond TikTok: Preparing for Future Digital Threats
By the end of September, the American social media landscape will undergo a profound transformation, and we cannot yet map this new terrain. President Donald Trump’s executive orders targeting Chinese-owned social media platform TikTok and messaging and payments app WeChat are aimed at confronting China’s tech enabled illiberalism. This is a worthy goal, but his fitful approach undermines this objective.
Instead, the U.S. government should articulate and adhere to a country-neutral framework that looks beyond TikTok, understanding that actions today might (and ought to) set precedents for tomorrow. While Chinese platforms like TikTok currently present the most pressing use cases, they are only the preface to a much longer plot. Without a smarter approach, American policy will fail to successfully confront fast-growing, foreign-owned digital platforms with systemic data and information security vulnerabilities. Prior to any future executive orders aimed at Chinese companies, the president — with input from the secretaries of state, commerce, and Treasury — should articulate a set of principles-based criterion for this framework. This would help strengthen Washington’s broader efforts to offer an alternative to Beijing’s authoritarian, self-serving vision for the future of the internet.
Read the full op-ed in War on the Rocks.
More from CNAS
-
Video
Technology & National Security
Jensen Huang's Exit: What It Means For Nvidia And America's AI SecurityWhat does Jensen Huang's exit mean for Nvidia, and could the controversy have wider implications for America's AI leadership and national security? Speaking to NDTV, Vivek Chi...
By Vivek Chilukuri
-
CNAS Insights
Energy, Economics & Security / Technology & National Security
CNAS Insights | The Nvidia Scandal Is a Wake-Up Call for CongressNvidia founder and CEO Jensen Huang has resigned amid revelations of extramarital affairs, including with an alleged Chinese spy. The suspected Chinese asset, Alice Huang, has...
By Emily Kilcrease & Vivek Chilukuri
-
Video
Technology & National Security
Jensen Huang latest: Scandal-hit Nvidia founder asked to testify to Senate - as details of Trump call emergeJensen Huang's resignation was "inevitable" following the affair allegations and while it will be hard for Nvidia in the short term, they still have the best chips in the worl...
By Vivek Chilukuri
-
Commentary
Technology & National Security
China’s AI Diplomacy Is WorkingIf the United States wants to maintain its lead and make meaningful progress on safety, it needs to treat the dialogue as part of the competition with China....
By Daniel Remler
