Archive for ‘Mumbai’s’

  |  
01/04/2020

TikTok, a Chinese soft-power time bomb in US living rooms?

  • The coronavirus has fuelled explosive growth of the app, which now has 800 million users, few of whom will know it is owned by China’s ByteDance
  • While videos of dancing teens may seem benign, there are growing fears in America it could be a Trojan Horse for mass surveillance by Beijing
TikTok is seen by some as the latest front in the US-China tech war. Photo: Shutterstock
TikTok is seen by some as the latest front in the US-China tech war. Photo: Shutterstock
Your average, not-so-hip adult would have probably drawn a blank at the mention of

TikTok

not long ago – unless they have a child addicted to the wildly popular app, on which users make and share short, amusing videos.

It has grown explosively since its 2016 launch, with 800 million monthly active users now – 300 million of them outside China in places such as India (120 million) and the 
United States

(37 million). And many have no idea it is owned by a Chinese company, ByteDance.

The first Chinese app to mount a real global challenge to Facebook and Instagram, it is seen as one of the shiniest new weapons in the US-China technology war. And a boost, perhaps, to Chinese soft power.
TikTok, the missing link between Hong Kong and Indian protesters?
9 Feb 2020
It experienced a growth spurt in 2019 that analysts predicted would slow a little this year. That, however, was before the coronavirus, which seems to be giving the app a bump, especially beyond its core teenage fan base.
As pandemic fears rise and millions are stuck indoors, major Hollywood celebrities such as Jennifer Lopez, 50, have taken to posting their own all-singing, all-dancing videos, which then go viral on other media platforms.
Even the World Health Organisation has jumped on the bandwagon, joining the app in late February to share public health advice.
The TikTok logo on a smartphone. Photo: Getty Images
The TikTok logo on a smartphone. Photo: Getty Images
But to some, the growth of TikTok is far from benign.

Privacy advocates and several US congressmen want to rein in the app over concerns it may censor and monitor content for the Chinese government, and be used for misinformation and election interference. This despite the fact that TikTok keeps its servers outside China and swears it will not hand over user data.

Are these fears justified – or fuelled by political and anticompetitive motives?

Thinkers such as Yuval Noah Harari warn that the coronavirus pandemic could be a watershed in the history of mass surveillance.
But Eric Harwit, a professor of Asian studies at the University of Hawaii, does not buy such arguments against TikTok, especially given that 60 per cent of its US users are aged 16 to 24.

“ByteDance has done a pretty good job of having a firewall between TikTok and the Chinese version of it, Douyin.

TikTok, iPhone: all you need to escape Mumbai’s slums – for 15 seconds

1 Nov 2019

“Also, many users in the US are teens and they’re not a particularly useful source of national security information.

“So I’d say the concerns are motivated more by a general fear of any kind of Chinese telecommunication application rather than actual attempts to siphon off valuable US intelligence information.

“And Facebook and other American companies have similar products,” Harwit points out. “US government officials will always want to protect American commercial interests.”

Sarah Cook, a China analyst for Freedom House – the US government-funded think tank – disagrees.

“We have concerns about how Facebook and Twitter deal with information affecting electoral politics, and that’s magnified if you’re talking about a Chinese company that now has a user base that rivals theirs.”

Chinese officials, she argues, have shown a willingness to censor and manipulate information well beyond their country’s borders – for instance, regarding the scale of the initial outbreak in Wuhan, an obfuscation that may have exacerbated its impact abroad.

“For those who think Chinese government censorship is only Chinese people’s problem, this pandemic shows how much that’s not the case.

“And even if it’s not happening right now with TikTok, the concern is that Chinese companies are beholden to their government, whether they want to be or not.

“I’m not saying block TikTok entirely,” she says. “It’s a question of looking at it in a democratic system and deciding on reasonable oversight and safeguards to protect users and information flows when that time comes.”

When it comes to expanding China’s cultural influence, though, neither Cook nor Harwit believes the app is especially effective.

Most people are oblivious to its Chinese origins, which the user experience does not reflect in any way. So there is no goodwill-generating soft power of the sort wielded by, say, 

South Korea

through the K-pop industry.

If anything, TikTok often promotes the increasingly homogenous, Western-leaning culture seen on many globally popular social media apps.
So says Morten Bay, a lecturer in digital and social media at the University of Southern California’s Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism.
“A semi-Western culture, with small variations of local culture, is becoming the norm on social media. And Chinese soft power is difficult to assert because there’s no value difference.”
And even if Chinese tech companies keep taking bigger bites of the Western market, he is sceptical of China’s “ability to leverage that for soft power in a geopolitical sense”.

“Because there is a very big apparatus pushing against China in that regard. As soon as TikTok started gaining traction in the US, people came out against it, trying to make everyone aware of the privacy and geopolitical issues.

The #KaunsiBadiBaatHai campaign on TikTok aims to raise awareness about women's safety issues in India. Image: TikTok
The #KaunsiBadiBaatHai campaign on TikTok aims to raise awareness about women’s safety issues in India. Image: TikTok
“So China faces a lot of resistance,” Bay concludes. “And I’m not sure a social media platform on its own can do much about that.”
Still, if you had to back a horse in this race, TikTok would be it, says Zhang Mengmeng.

When she and her colleagues from global industry analysis firm Counterpoint Research visited the company, they were impressed by its research and development capabilities.

“Because they’re a very young company, their pace for incubating new projects is a lot faster, especially compared to successful but older internet companies in China which have been around for 15 to 20 years.

Indian invasion of Chinese social media apps sparks fear and loathing in New Delhi

28 Apr 2019

“They have lots of little start-up projects within the company and their organisational structure is very flat – it doesn’t matter what your age is, if you have a good idea, you get promoted very quickly.”

TikTok’s rise is also emblematic of a broader role reversal in the US-China tech war, she believes.

“Before, the US was more advanced in terms of internet development and China seemed to just copy its new ideas. Now, this is reversing. There are so many people in China using the internet that start-ups there can test ideas very easily.

“So now it seems like a lot of US companies are trying to see what ideas are coming out of China.” ■

Source: SCMP

Posted in addicted, Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, APP, bandwagon, Beijing, benign, Bytedance, censorship, China, Chinese, chinese government, coronavirus, Coronavirus pandemic, Culture, explosive growth, Facebook, firewall, fuelled, geopolitical issues, homogenous, Hong Kong, India, Indian, industry, Instagram, intelligence information, IPhone, Jennifer Lopez, jumped, K-pop, living rooms, mass surveillance, Mumbai's, pandemic, protesters, public health advice, semi-Western culture, siphon off, slums, soft power, South Korea, telecommunication application, TikTok, time bomb, Trojan Horse, Twitter, Uncategorized, United States, University of Hawaii, University of Southern California’s, US-China technology war, watershed, women's safety issues, World Health Organisation, Wuhan | Leave a Comment »

25/03/2020

Coronavirus: Wuhan to ease lockdown as world battles pandemic

Medical staff clean up the empty hospital after all patients were discharged at Wuchang Fangcang hospital, a temporary hospital set up at Hongshan gymnasium to treat people infected with the coronavirus and Covin-19 disease, in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China, 10 March 2020 (issued 11 March 2020)Image copyright EPA
Image caption Wuhan has been sealed off since mid-January

The lockdown in Wuhan, the Chinese city where the global coronavirus outbreak began, will be partially lifted on 8 April, officials say.

Travel restrictions in the rest of Hubei province, where Wuhan is located, will be lifted from midnight on Tuesday – for residents who are healthy.

A single new case of the virus was reported in Wuhan on Tuesday following almost a week of no reported new cases.

Countries around the world have gone into lockdown or imposed severe curbs.

The UK is getting to grips with sweeping new measures to tackle the spread of coronavirus, including a ban on public gatherings of more than two people and the immediate closure of shops selling non-essential goods.

A person is tested for the Covid-19 virus in Villeurbanne, France (23 March 2020)Image copyright AFP
Image caption The WHO has urged the G20 group of nations to boost production of protective equipment

Meanwhile, health experts say Americans must limit their social interactions or the number of infections will overwhelm the health care system in the US.

Spanish soldiers helping to fight the coronavirus pandemic have found elderly patients in retirement homes abandoned and, in some cases, dead in their beds, the defence ministry has said.

An ice rink in Madrid is to be used as a temporary mortuary for Covid-19 victims.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned that the pandemic is accelerating, with more than 300,000 cases now confirmed. It is urging countries to adopt rigorous testing and contact-tracing strategies.

Wuhan has been shut off from the rest of the world since the middle of January. But officials now say anyone who has a “green” code on a widely used smartphone health app will be allowed to leave the city from 8 April.

Earlier, the authorities reported a new case of coronavirus in Wuhan, ending a five-day run of no reported new cases in the city.

Media caption Coronavirus: People in Beijing begin to head outdoors

It comes after health officials there confirmed that they were not counting cases of people who were positive but had not been admitted to hospital or did not show any symptoms of the disease.

Official government figures say there have been 78 new cases reported on the Chinese mainland in the last 24 hours. All but four of them were caused by infected travellers arriving from abroad.

This so-called “second wave” of imported infections is also affecting countries like South Korea and Singapore, which had been successful in stopping the spread of disease in recent weeks.

South Korea has been seeing a drop in its daily tally of new cases. On Tuesday it reported its lowest number since 29 February.

Presentational grey line

China looks to repair its reputation

By Robin Brant, BBC News, Shanghai

China considers itself to be – very nearly – a “post corona” country.

In the last week we’ve heard Wuhan medics warning the UK and others that they need to do more to protect frontline health workers, citing the mistakes they made early on when some treated patients without wearing proper protective clothing.

But there’s also been reporting in state media of the reported death toll in Italy surpassing that in China. This has been combined with some commentary from prominent media figures that has appeared distasteful, almost triumphalist.

At the same time there is a panic about the threat of a second wave from imported cases – travellers arriving from abroad. This has fuelled the view – right or wrong – that some other countries aren’t taking the threat seriously because they aren’t doing what China did. (Almost all the cases in Beijing that have been made public are of Chinese nationals returning home).

Meanwhile, well away from senior leaders, there are some high-profile diplomatic figures using international-facing social media to spread theories that the US may have weaponised and dumped the virus in China. Or that Italy had cases that may have been Covid-19 earlier than China. China is sowing seeds of doubt and questioning assumed truths as it looks to repair its reputation.

Presentational grey line
Banner image reading 'more about coronavirus'
Banner

What’s the latest from around Asia?

  • Almost all of India with its 1.3bn people is under lockdown. Buses, trains and other forms of public transport are suspended. On Monday, the authorities said domestic flights would also stopped. The country has reported 485 cases and nine people have died. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address the nation again this evening.
People travel in Central Railway's first air-conditioned EMU local train, on January 30, 2020, in Mumbai, India.Image copyright GETTY IMAGES
Image caption Mumbai’s suburban train network carries eight million passengers a day
  • Neighbouring Pakistan has almost twice as many confirmed cases – 878 as of Monday evening. Sweeping restrictions are in place although the government has stopped short of imposing a nationwide lockdown. However, several provinces have announced them independently. The army is being brought in to help enforce the restrictions.
  • Bangladesh, which has reported 33 cases and three deaths, is also deploying its armed forces to help maintain social distancing and boost Covid-19 preventive measures. The soldiers will also monitor thousands of quarantined expatriate returnees. Across South Asia, there are concerns that the actual number of cases could be much higher than is being reported.
  • Indonesia, which has 49 confirmed Covid-19 deaths – the highest in South-East Asia – has converted an athlete’s village built for the 2018 Asian Games into a makeshift hospital for coronavirus patients. A state of emergency was declared in Jakarta on Monday.
  • In Thailand, a month-long state of emergency which will include curfews and checkpoints will begin on Thursday. The government has been criticised for failing to take strong action so far. Four people have died and nearly 900 tested positive.
  • Talks between the Japanese PM and the International Olympic Committee are expected this evening.
  • The most populous country that was without a case until now – Myanmar – has announced two cases.

Europe’s battle against virus intensifies

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced on Monday night that, with immediate effect, “people will only be allowed to leave their home…for very limited purposes”. They include shopping for basic necessities, taking one form of exercise per day, fulfilling any medical need, or travelling to work if working from home is impossible.

Media caption Reality Check tackles misleading health advice being shared online

The number of people who have died in the UK rose to 335 on Monday.

In Italy, the worst-hit country in the world, the authorities said 602 people with Covid-19 had died in the past 24 hours, bringing the total death toll there to 6,077.

But the daily increase in cases was the smallest since Thursday, raising hope that the stringent restrictions imposed by the government were starting to have an effect.

Spain, however, said on Tuesday that its death toll had risen by 514 to 2,696. Nearly 40,000 are infected, about 5,400 of them healthcare workers.

Source: The BBC

Posted in abandoned, Americans, armed forces, Bangladesh, battles, beds, Beijing, buses, Chinese nationals, coronavirus, countries, COVID-19, dead, domestic flights, ease, elderly patients, G20 group of nations, hubei province, Indonesia, International Olympic Committee, Italy, Jakarta, Japanese PM, lockdown, Madrid, Mumbai's, Myanmar, outbreak, Pakistan, pandemic, preventive measures, Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, public transport, retirement homes, second wave, Singapore, South Asia, South Korea, Spain, Spanish soldiers, suburban train network, Thailand, trains, Uncategorized, World, World Health Organization (WHO), Wuhan | Leave a Comment »

  |  
CCChang

Law of Unintended Consequences

continuously updated blog about China & India

ChiaHou's Book Reviews

continuously updated blog about China & India

What's wrong with the world; and its economy

continuously updated blog about China & India