Money Talks: Last dance for TikTok?

Time may be running short for TikTok. In the US, both Democrats and Republicans view the Chinese-owned app as a national security threat and would like to ban it. It’s practically the only policy issue that the two parties agree on. And yet the politicians in Washington DC have left it very late to act. TikTok has already reached 150 million users in the US, half the country’s population, and every day it adds more.  On this week’s podcast, hosts Alice Fulwood, Tom Lee-Devlin and Mike Bird look at whether the fears about TikTok are well grounded, and what the options are for addressing them. The Economist’s Alexandra Suich Bass explains why alternatives short of an outright ban have gone nowhere. China security analyst Matthew Johnson says his biggest concern is that Beijing could use the app to spread pro-Chinese propaganda. Meanwhile, Nazak Nikakhtar, a former secretary of the US Commerce Department, suggests a way of neutralising the app without upsetting users.Sign up for our new weekly newsletter dissecting the big themes in markets, business and the economy at www.economist.com/moneytalks For full access to print, digital and audio editions, subscribe to The Economist at www.economist.com/podcastoffer Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.