At a glance.
- Updates on Huawei, TikTok bans.
- TikTok's lawsuits.
National bans on Chinese companies: updates.
Huawei continues to feel the effects of international restrictions on its participation in 5G infrastructure markets. The Observer Research Foundation summarizes the company's troubles. Samsung has already seen significant gains in market share from India's ban on Huawei, the Korea Times reports.
One country at least says it's open to cooperating with Huawei as it builds out its 5G networks: Russia. According to Reuters, which quotes the Russian official outlet Interfax, Foreign Minister Lavrov says Moscow is ready to cooperate with China generally and Huawei specifically in deploying the new infrastructure.
Japan's government is considering a ban on TikTok, the Japan Times says, despite the app's widespread popularity in that country. The Wall Street Journal reports in an exclusive that Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg drew attention to the security threat TikTok posed when he visited Washington last October when the Capital was in a mood to consider closer regulation of Facebook. In a speech on freedom of expression he delivered at Georgetown University, Mr. Zuckerberg noted in an aside that TikTok was no friend to free speech. “On TikTok, the Chinese app growing quickly around the world, mentions of protests are censored, even in the U.S. Is that the internet we want?” he asked. He's also believed to have spoken about TikTok to members of Congress and the Administration. The Journal rightly points out that it's not known what if any role Facebook played in US deliberations about any threat TikTok might pose, but it does note that the Chinese video app is a Facebook competitor.
TikTok lawsuits.
TikTok intends to file a lawsuit challenging the US Executive Order on Addressing the Threat Posed by TikTok. CNBC says the suit could be filed as early as this week. The specific lines the suit will follow are not known, but earlier lawsuits by Kaspersky and Huawei alleged, unsuccessfully, that such executive action amount to an unconstitutional bill of attainder.
In the meantime, a group of TikTok users have gone ahead with their own suit. The Wall Street Journal says the plaintiffs allege the Executive Order’s unconstitutional, harming free speech, violating due process, and imposing a disparate impact on Chinese-Americans.