Explanation of CFIUS and why and how Trump can use it: https://www.lawfareblog.com/tiktok-and-law-primer-case-you-n...
US to ban transactions with ByteDance and WeChat in 45 days
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Re: US to ban transactions with ByteDance and WeChat in 45 days
#12Forget I said anything. HN is infiltrated by propaganda without people even realising.
Like...China?
Re: US to ban transactions with ByteDance and WeChat in 45 days
#13Wow this is huge if Tencent is out of the game in the US. What happens to their stakes in companies like Reddit and Riot Games?
Re: US to ban transactions with ByteDance and WeChat in 45 days
#14Explanation of CFIUS and why and how Trump can use it: https://www.lawfareblog.com/tiktok-and-law-primer-case-you-n...
Our 70s-era national security regime needs desperate Congressional overhaul. I take particular peeve with the prohibitions on judicial review of CFIUS actions.
Re: US to ban transactions with ByteDance and WeChat in 45 days
#15An important note that nobody seems to be reporting on: this is only possible because Apple and Google have control over which apps are permitted on your device.
The US government has no legal authority to ban publishing (including apps) in the US. They do, however, have the ability to regulate trade between the operators of the App Store (Apple) and the Play Store (Google), and app publishers, which is what they're doing here.
Ban the business relationship, and they've effectively banned the publishing. It's an end run around the US constitution, and everyone should be up in arms about it: not just at the US government, but also at Apple and Google for creating a legal chokepoint for mass censorship by the US federal government.
This would not be possible if end users actually exercised control over their own devices. This is how the web works, and it's how everything else on your device should work, too.
Re: US to ban transactions with ByteDance and WeChat in 45 days
#16Theres an incredible amount of foreign propaganda in western social media anyway. Twitter took down like a million CCP accounts the other month (they made an announcement about it) and thats just the ones they know about. This is a step thats at least in spirit probably makes sense but there are more larger issues. Reddit literally has an API to comment...you think all those policial default subs are real comments? N…
A comment API makes sense as reddit originally had vibrant third-party app developers. It’s not like it can only be used for bots to post.
Re: US to ban transactions with ByteDance and WeChat in 45 days
#17So does this ban transactions with all of Tencent or just those in relation to WeChat? https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/executive-or... Section 1. (a) The following actions shall be prohibited beginning 45 days after the date of this order, to the extent permitted under applicable law: any transaction that is related to WeChat by any person, or with respect to any property, subject to the jurisdiction…
Similarly, and I honestly feel a bit silly asking this, but does this ban US investors from purchasing Tencent stock? It doesn't seem so - are these literally just bans on app transactions? Or does this also mean that, for example, WeChat couldn't host infra on Azure in Africa?
Re: US to ban transactions with ByteDance and WeChat in 45 days
#18So does this ban transactions with all of Tencent or just those in relation to WeChat? https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/executive-or... Section 1. (a) The following actions shall be prohibited beginning 45 days after the date of this order, to the extent permitted under applicable law: any transaction that is related to WeChat by any person, or with respect to any property, subject to the jurisdiction…
And what's a "transaction"?
Re: US to ban transactions with ByteDance and WeChat in 45 days
#19The (US-HQ'd) company I work for has a small but significant office in China. We are not a household name, even within tech, so I doubt we'd be a target of any retaliation by China.
However, my worry is this: Whilst we have a lot of really good people in China, we don't do any business in China (and there's no realistic prospect of us doing so). So at this point operating in China seems like a huge exposure to risk for relatively little reward in the long term.
But I don't see an alternative for us. Pull out of China and business continuity would take a huge hit; stay in China and accept the risks & uncertainty.
Basically, I'm torn about the whole situation.
Re: US to ban transactions with ByteDance and WeChat in 45 days
#20An important note that nobody seems to be reporting on: this is only possible because Apple and Google have control over which apps are permitted on your device. The US government has no legal authority to ban publishing (including apps) in the US. They do, however, have the ability to regulate trade between the operators of the App Store (Apple) and the Play Store (Google), and app publishers, which is what they're…
And how would we prevent the Chinese from simply subverting our democracy?