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To its 170 million American users, TikTok is a fun place to share parodies, pranks or the latest dance craze. But in the U.S. Congress, many see the app as something more pernicious – to them, it’s a national security threat. Their concern is with TikTok’s parent company, Beijing-based ByteDance. Political hawks warn that, at least in theory, Chinese law could force ByteDance to give American users’ data to the Chinese government.
TikTok denies all this. But as Shaomin Li explains, the reality is a little more nuanced. It may well be the case that Beijing officials are not overtly pulling the strings at ByteDance, but the company itself will still be under obligations to the Chinese Communist Party.
Senegalese are approaching the 24 March presidential election with some foreboding. This is due to the botched attempt of outgoing president Macky Sall to postpone the poll indefinitely and possibly extend his tenure. Although these attempts have been quashed by the country’s constitutional council, Amy Niang explains how they have already eroded trust in the electoral process and Sall’s commitment to leave office.
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Shaomin Li, Old Dominion University
In China, ‘private’ businesses aren’t entirely private and the ultimate boss is the CCP, not the CEO.
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Amy Niang, Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa
Attempts to postpone Senegal’s election indefinitely reflect deeper governance problems within Macky Sall’s administration, and the shortcomings of his chosen heir, Amadou Ba.
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Peter Tesch, Australian National University
Western governments must honestly assess the mistaken assumptions that have undermined effective policies in the past and articulate what a better future would look like for the Russian people.
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Ian Hall, Griffith University
Modi’s party has struggled to generate jobs for young people, but is highly adept at marshalling votes to win elections.
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Michelle Cohen, Queen's University, Ontario
How do we distinguish between valuable information from legitimate health experts, and pseudoscientific nonsense from unscrupulous wellness influencers?
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Rodney Coates, Miami University
False ideas about the extinction of the white race, spread around the late 19th and early 20th centuries, gave rise to xenophobic and anti-immigration conspiracy theories.
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Craig Merrett, Clarkson University
People have been flying airplanes for well over a century. Engineers know how to balance all the forces at play, but still aren’t exactly sure how some of the physics of flight actually works.
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Sarah A. Son, University of Sheffield
SEVENTEEN’s performance will mark a major milestone in Korea’s decade’s long strategy to take Korean popular culture to the world.
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