TikTok’s values questioned by Meta executive Nick Clegg as controversy dogs China’s ByteDance in US
- Meta’s head of global affairs invoked anti-China rhetoric that has become routine in efforts to ban TikTok, which is facing a national security review
- Clegg noted the lack of reciprocity in China, where Meta’s Facebook is blocked, while TikTok has 150 million monthly active users in the US
“TikTok, a hugely successful, highly dynamic and innovative Chinese company, is able to operate in the United States, but companies like Meta are not able to operate our social media services in China,” Clegg said in an interview Tuesday with Bloomberg TV. “So there is this issue of a kind of lack of a level playing field. And in the end, there’s always an underlying issue of values: What values are the underpinning of new technologies?”
Clegg’s comments echo the hawkish sentiments that have swirled around China and TikTok’s connection to the country. In the US, where the social media platform has amassed 150 million users every month, the company is facing a national security review and legislation that could limit its availability in the country.
There are “pretty profound differences in values” in how China views technology and individual privacy, Clegg said, including the country’s willingness to seal off most of its internet from access by foreign companies. This has also expanded to discussions about new artificial intelligence technologies where, he said, “Chinese authorities are already rushing to insert their values and the way in which those AI systems are developed.”
“It’s so important that Europe, America, India don’t need to act in an identical fashion,” Clegg said. “But if they can align, then we can ensure that these new technologies are based on democratic values and not all autocratic values, because I can guarantee you these very powerful new technologies are going to be used by autocrats around the world for their own purposes – and I think we need to do something quite different.”