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
-
The Daily Scoop
Podcast
Greg Grant joins The Daily Scoop to discuss a recent CNAS paper about improving joint operational concept development within the DoD. And they speak to Bob Work about the ongo...
By Greg Grant & Robert O. Work
-
What's next for national security and artificial intelligence
Podcast
Artificial Intelligence and China are at the center of a report from the National Security Commission on artificial intelligence. Commission co-chair Robert Work talks with To...
By Robert O. Work
-
AI with military characteristics
Podcast
What does AI mean for military might, and how are debates over autonomous weapons unfolding in diplomatic backchannels? Robert O. Work and Elsa Kania join FT innovation editor...
By Robert O. Work & Elsa B. Kania
-
Samuel Bendett on AI Development in Russia
Podcast
What is happening in Russia right now with regards to development of artificial intelligence? In today’s bingecast, Samuel Bendett and Robert J. Marks discuss Russian military...
By Samuel Bendett
