politics

Social networks have repeatedly come under scrutiny by the US government but few are in danger of going out of business as TikTok is. Granted, the popular short video sharing platform would be able to continue its operations outside of the US in the worst-case scenario but losing such a large market could be fatal to the fledgling company. Thrice it has escaped a complete ban in the US but even as the final deadline lapses, TikTok remains in limbo even more than before.

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The political landscape in the US hasn't yet stabilized almost a month after one of the most important elections in its recent history. It is perhaps because of that state of flux that government officials under the current administration are moving quickly to wrap things up while they can. Last month saw Google formally sued for monopolistic business practices and TikTok's fate could very well be decided this Friday. Next week will see yet another high-profile legal drama when the US government slaps Facebook with an antitrust lawsuit of its own.

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Some might presume that recent political changes in the US government might weaken the campaign against certain US companies but it is far too early to count those eggs. The current government still holds the power and, as far as the Trump administration is concerned, nothing has really changed. Huawei is still on its entity list and TikTok still risks getting banned next month. And according to a recent FCC order, ZTE remains a national security threat because of its potential to be used for state-sanctioned espionage.

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Almost like some of the smooth dance moves you can see on the social network, TikTok has again narrowly dodged what could be the fatal deadline that would end it, at least in the US. As the new November 27 deadline approaches, owner ByteDance was given another week to convince the US government not to ban it outright. That remains a quest of Herculean proportions as the Chinese company's multiple proposals have been repeatedly rejected already.

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Twitter appears to be pulling out all the stops when it comes to fighting misinformation on its social media platform. This week the social network added warnings for users liking posts labeled for misinformation. This adds another mental block between incorrect and otherwise misleading information and the people that'd otherwise be mislead.

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In the heat of the recent US elections, it almost seemed that the current Trump administration was too busy to remember the deadline it set for TikTok to divest or shut down its operations in the US. After months of uncertainty, TikTok has finally gotten a reprieve as the US Commerce Department announced it won't enforce the earlier order in light of a recent federal court ruling. The fight, however, isn't over yet and TikTok's fate in the US still hinges on what will happen in the country in the coming weeks.

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Only days ahead of the upcoming presidential election, Twitter has previewed a couple of new alerts it will show users at the tops of their feeds, both intended to combat misinformation and help keep voters informed. The reason, Twitter notes, is the unprecedented nature of this election, which has seen many people voting early by mail out of concerns about exposure to the coronavirus pandemic.

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The US government is preparing to make its case in courts over Google's alleged anti-competitive practices, particularly on the Internet. While it may already have its arguments prepared, the Justice Department may still be considering what steps it will require Google to take, presuming it wins its case. One of those may be to split up the company, which is already just a subsidiary of the bigger Alphabet, which includes selling off the most-used web browser in the market, Chrome.

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Yelp will flag businesses that have seen reports of racist behavior, the company has said today, with a new alert being added to their listings. The notification will be linked to profiles which see a sudden increase in reviews that aren't based on "first-hand consumer experience," which has often been connected to reports of racist activity or discrimination.

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It's open season on Big Tech as the US political machinery kicks into high gear weeks ahead of the country's biggest elections yet. After nearly a year and a half of inquiries, the Democrat-led House Judiciary subcommittee released a 450-page conclusion on how four Big Tech companies indeed enjoy monopoly power and suggested sweeping changes that would change these companies forever. Unsurprisingly, these companies have denied any wrongdoing and both Apple and Google have already voiced their disapproval of the conclusions reached by Congress.

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Local and international media have been focused on covering the US government's moves against popular social media TikTok but what's happening outside of the spotlight could have even bigger economic repercussions globally. Although not exactly the blacklisting that was earlier feared, the US Commerce Department has just placed restrictions on the export of American products to SMIC, China's largest semiconductor company, which affects not only the already embattled Huawei but potentially even US companies like Qualcomm as well.

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YouTube has announced some new additions and changes made to its platform ahead of Election Day, ones that are intended to help users get authoritative information and to prevent meddling with the outcome. Among other things, YouTube has roped in Google's 'How To Vote' feature, which will appear as a prompt when users search for information related to how to vote on YouTube. In addition, and among other things, YouTube is also showing information related to politicians directly on its platform.

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