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yesIssie LapowskyNone
September 23, 2020
TikTok may not be banned from the United States yet, but it says the Trump administration's continued threats have already had a devastating impact on the company's ability to land advertisers, hire new talent and hold on to content creators.
In a new court filing, TikTok's interim head, Vanessa Pappas, shared concrete data about the losses TikTok has experienced over the last few months, hoping to persuade the court to issue an injunction against the Commerce Department's forthcoming ban, which is set to take effect on Sept. 27.
According to Pappas, when Secretary of State Mike Pompeo first announced that President Trump was considering banning TikTok in the United States, the app's user base fell by 500,000 daily active users. In the month of August, after President Trump issued his executive order barring transactions with TikTok's parent company, ByteDance, TikTok lost $10 million in revenue, as a dozen brands canceled or delayed their advertising plans. That includes "some of the largest consumer goods companies in the United States," Pappas wrote.
The threats have also interrupted TikTok's hiring spree, according to Pappas. "Since July 1, 2020, 52 candidates have declined offers of employment with ByteDance and TikTok Inc. specifically due to the perceived uncertainty caused by the government's investigation of and threats against TikTok," Pappas wrote, not mentioning that TikTok's former CEO, Kevin Mayer, quit among the chaos and confusion after only a few months on the job.
TikTok has also watched its most popular creators get poached by other platforms. Pappas pointed specifically to TikTok's biggest star, Charli D'Amelio, who recently signed with Triller, a competing app. "Because of the halo effect associated with major personalities on the TikTok app, the departure of even one top creator can lead thousands of members of their fan base to the next platform as well," Pappas wrote.
According to Pappas, until July 1, TikTok was adding around 424,000 new daily U.S. users every day. Even a temporary ban could demolish that growth, according to TikTok's models, which estimate that 40% to 50% of TikTok's daily active users wouldn't return to the app even if the ban lasts only two months. "If the ban is in place for six months, 80 to 90% of daily active users will not return," Pappas wrote. Those estimates are based on what TikTok saw in India when the app was banned for two weeks in 2019.
And because U.S. content creators are so popular in other countries, Pappas argues that "banning TikTok in the United States will result in a massive decrease in content available globally, which will decrease business and impact both our new users and core user base worldwide."
For TikTok, the purpose of releasing these painful stats is to convince the court that it's suffering real harm as a result of the Trump administration's actions. Earlier this week, a district court blocked the Commerce Department's ban of WeChat. Now, TikTok is seeking the same.
Last weekend, the Commerce Department delayed its ban on new TikTok downloads from U.S. app stores, citing "recent positive developments" — namely, the fact that President Trump signaled his approval of a deal that would have given Oracle and Walmart minority stakes in the company and would have given Oracle control of U.S. user data.
But the president and the companies involved have since cast doubt on that deal. On Monday, during an interview with "Fox & Friends," the president claimed that Oracle and Walmart would control the new company, TikTok Global. "And if we find that they don't have total control, then we're not going to approve the deal," he said. Meanwhile, TikTok and Oracle have given their own mixed signals, contradicting each other's statements on the future company's ownership structure.
TikTok has until mid-November to work out the specifics of the deal before the Commerce Department cuts the company off from crucial services like internet hosting in the U.S. But Pappas' court filing makes clear that even if a deal is reached, whoever ends up owning TikTok in the end will be inheriting a once ascendant company that's already lost a lot.
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Issie Lapowsky
Issie Lapowsky (@issielapowsky) is a senior reporter at Protocol, covering the intersection of technology, politics, and national affairs. Previously, she was a senior writer at Wired, where she covered the 2016 election and the Facebook beat in its aftermath. Prior to that, Issie worked as a staff writer for Inc. magazine, writing about small business and entrepreneurship. She has also worked as an on-air contributor for CBS News and taught a graduate-level course at New York University’s Center for Publishing on how tech giants have affected publishing. Email Issie.
Politics
'Woke tech' and 'the new slave power': Conservatives gather for Vegas summit
An agenda for the event, hosted by the Claremont Institute, listed speakers including U.S. CTO Michael Kratsios and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.
The so-called "Digital Statecraft Summit" was organized by the Claremont Institute. The speakers include U.S. CTO Michael Kratsios and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, as well as a who's-who of far-right provocateurs.
Photo: David Vives/Unsplash
January 16, 2021
Emily Birnbaum ( @birnbaum_e) is a tech policy reporter with Protocol. Her coverage focuses on the U.S. government's attempts to regulate one of the most powerful industries in the world, with a focus on antitrust, privacy and politics. Previously, she worked as a tech policy reporter with The Hill after spending several months as a breaking news reporter. She is a Bethesda, Maryland native and proud Kenyon College alumna.
Issie Lapowsky (@issielapowsky) is a senior reporter at Protocol, covering the intersection of technology, politics, and national affairs. Previously, she was a senior writer at Wired, where she covered the 2016 election and the Facebook beat in its aftermath. Prior to that, Issie worked as a staff writer for Inc. magazine, writing about small business and entrepreneurship. She has also worked as an on-air contributor for CBS News and taught a graduate-level course at New York University’s Center for Publishing on how tech giants have affected publishing. Email Issie.
January 16, 2021
Conservative investors, political operatives, right-wing writers and Trump administration officials are quietly meeting in Las Vegas this weekend to discuss topics including China, "woke tech" and "the new slave power," according to four people who were invited to attend or speak at the event as well as a copy of the agenda obtained by Protocol.
The so-called "Digital Statecraft Summit" was organized by the Claremont Institute, a conservative think tank that says its mission is to "restore the principles of the American Founding to their rightful, preeminent authority in our national life." A list of speakers for the event includes a combination of past and current government officials as well as a who's who of far-right provocateurs. One speaker, conservative legal scholar John Eastman, rallied the president's supporters at a White House event before the Capitol Hill riot earlier this month. Some others have been associated with racist ideologies.
<p>Government officials listed on the agenda include United States Chief Technology Officer Michael Kratsios and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who is leading a multi-state antitrust lawsuit against Google and is currently <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2020/11/17/texas-ken-paxton-fbi/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">under federal investigation</a>. A source familiar with Kratsios' planned remarks said he intended to speak about artificial intelligence and China. Also on the agenda: Josh Steinman, the White House National Security Council's recently departed senior director for cyber, who now describes himself as the founder of a "stealth startup" on LinkedIn. </p><p><div class="ad-tag"><div class="ad-place-holder" data-pos="1">
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</div></p><p>Newly confirmed FCC Commissioner Nathan Simington was also listed on the agenda, but he told Protocol he did not end up attending. "Despite initial plans to do so, I did not attend or otherwise participate in the Claremont event this weekend, and I did not prepare or submit remarks," Simington said. </p><p>The event is happening as Las Vegas <a href="https://lasvegassun.com/news/2021/jan/13/las-vegas-hospital-capacity-crisis-covid-19-soar/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">experiences a spike in COVID cases</a>.</p><p>Claremont Institute President Ryan Williams refused to answer Protocol's questions about "the new slave power" panel, what COVID-19 safety protocols are in place during the in-person gathering or the range of speaker backgrounds on the agenda.</p><p>"The Claremont Institute has been a leading voice against political censorship by the Big Tech oligarchs, and we have no interest in commenting on an obvious hatchet job by a publication so clearly beholden to the pieties of Silicon Valley," Williams said in an email to Protocol. "Your questions are riddled with false premises, but we welcome the fire."</p><p>The list of speakers included several people with controversial pedigrees. One speaker, blogger Curtis Yarvin, otherwise known as Mencius Moldbug, has written that there is "no question that biological differences made Africans better slaves than indigenous Americans" because they were less susceptible to tropical diseases. He also once <a href="https://www.unqualified-reservations.org/2007/11/why-i-am-not-white-nationalist/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">wrote</a> in a blog post, "although I am not a white nationalist, I am not exactly allergic to the stuff." Yarvin was listed to speak on the panel about "the new slave power," along with Michael Anton, former deputy national security adviser under President Trump, who recently wrote an essay in Claremont's The American Mind publication suggesting that Democrats were "openly talking about staging a coup." </p><p><div class="ad-tag"><div class="ad-place-holder" data-pos="2">
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</div></p><p>Another speaker on the agenda, Adam Candeub, is the current acting head of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration. Previously, as a lawyer, he <a href="https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2020/05/trumps-commerce-department-just-hired-a-lawyer-with-ties-to-white-nationalists/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">represented</a> white nationalist Jared Taylor in a lawsuit against Twitter. Eastman recently retired from his position as a law professor at Chapman University amid an <a href="https://www.ocregister.com/2021/01/13/controversial-law-professor-john-eastman-retires-from-chapman-university/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">uproar</a> over a speech he gave alleging election fraud at the pro-Trump rally preceding the Capitol attack on Jan. 6.</p><p>One of the final speakers listed on the agenda, Soylent founder Rob Rhinehart, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/28/technology/politics-tech-start-ups-culture-war.html?" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">made waves earlier this summer</a> with a 5,300-word blog post about why he <a href="https://www.robrhinehart.com/why-i-am-voting-for-kanye-west/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">supported hip-hop artist Kanye West</a> for president. "I am so sick of politics. Politics are suddenly everywhere," he wrote, before jumping into a lengthy post about Joe Biden, why the media is "actually evil" and the importance of biofuels. </p><p>One attendee said they had not been given any information on who would be speaking as of midday Friday, hours before the event was set to kick off, and Claremont Institute did not appear to be promoting the event on social media Saturday as the first panels began. "Maybe they're trying to keep it under wraps," the attendee said. </p><p><div class="ad-tag"><div class="ad-place-holder" data-pos="3">
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</div></p><p>The attendee said they understood that the tenor of the weekend would be "very critical of tech, very pro some type of intervention."</p><p>"There's going to be some discrepancy and debate around what intervention looks like," the attendee said.</p><p>The other topics on the agenda include a panel on "restoring law" and a fireside chat titled, "What happened?" The summit takes place 10 days after a violent mob of Trump supporters breached the Capitol Hill complex, resulting in five deaths and forcing a reckoning within the Republican Party over its alignment with Trump and right-wing conspiracy theorists.</p>
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Emily Birnbaum ( @birnbaum_e) is a tech policy reporter with Protocol. Her coverage focuses on the U.S. government's attempts to regulate one of the most powerful industries in the world, with a focus on antitrust, privacy and politics. Previously, she worked as a tech policy reporter with The Hill after spending several months as a breaking news reporter. She is a Bethesda, Maryland native and proud Kenyon College alumna.
Power
These ByteDance apps stored U.S. user data in China – until they disappeared
TikTok may keep U.S. user data out of China, but other ByteDance apps downloaded hundreds of thousands of times in the U.S. play by a different set of rules.
ByteDance has several apps with U.S. users that have been storing data in China, according to their privacy policies.
Getty Images
December 17, 2020
Issie Lapowsky (@issielapowsky) is a senior reporter at Protocol, covering the intersection of technology, politics, and national affairs. Previously, she was a senior writer at Wired, where she covered the 2016 election and the Facebook beat in its aftermath. Prior to that, Issie worked as a staff writer for Inc. magazine, writing about small business and entrepreneurship. She has also worked as an on-air contributor for CBS News and taught a graduate-level course at New York University’s Center for Publishing on how tech giants have affected publishing. Email Issie.
December 17, 2020
Over the last year, TikTok's leaders have repeatedly sworn both in court and in the court of public opinion that they don't share any U.S. user data with China, where their parent company, ByteDance, is based.
But the same can't be said for several other ByteDance apps, which also have a sizable audience in the United States and abroad.
<p>While none is as popular in the U.S. as TikTok, a Protocol investigation found that some of ByteDance's most popular apps in China, including Xigua and Toutiao, appear to have been downloaded hundreds of thousands of times in the United States. And as their privacy <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20200903041359/https://www.toutiao.com/privacy_protection/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">policies</a> clearly <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20201124115241/https://www.ixigua.com/privacy_policy/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">state</a> — albeit in Chinese — all of the data collected from those apps is stored in China. </p><p>According to SensorTower estimates, Xigua, a YouTube-like video streaming app, has been downloaded some 296,000 times across the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store in the U.S., while Toutiao, a news aggregation app, has been installed at least 808,000 times from the two U.S. app stores. </p><p><div class="ad-tag"><div class="ad-place-holder" data-pos="1">
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</div></p><p>SensorTower's data indicates those downloads ended abruptly the week of Oct. 5, suggesting both apps were removed from U.S. app stores around that time, just as the Trump administration was pressuring ByteDance to cut ties with TikTok and sell it to a U.S. company. On Oct. 11, SensorTower's data suggests the apps were also pulled from most app stores in Europe. Now, neither app is available on app stores in the U.S. or most of the E.U. Removing an app from stores, however, does not remove it from users' phones.</p><p>Another app, GoGoKid, disappeared from the U.S. Apple App Store Thursday after Protocol asked ByteDance about the app's privacy policy, which had <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20201216191412/https://www.gogokid.com/parent/privacy/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">stated</a> data was stored in China.</p><p>ByteDance would not confirm the download numbers or provide any of its own. In a statement, a ByteDance spokesperson said: "Toutiao and Xigua are designed for the Chinese market and are only available in Chinese. Accordingly we made a business decision to discontinue offering them in markets like the US, rather than devoting additional resources to them." </p><p>The spokesperson did not answer direct questions from Protocol about whether those apps had been storing U.S. users' data in China, as their privacy policies indicate. The spokesperson also didn't answer a question about whether U.S. users who previously downloaded these apps would be able to receive security updates and patches now that they're no longer on the app stores. </p><p><div class="ad-tag"><div class="ad-place-holder" data-pos="2">
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</div></p><p>The other ByteDance app, GoGoKid, matches teachers in the U.S. and Canada with Chinese students who want to learn English. The privacy policy for GoGoKid's U.S. teacher portal says only that data may be moved outside of the country. But for Canadian teachers, the <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20201003081037/https://teacher.gogokid.com/privacy/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">policy</a> stipulates that data may be transferred and processed "in jurisdictions where our affiliates or service providers are located, including Singapore, China and the United States." </p><p>The privacy policy for the U.S. iPad app for students, meanwhile, was different. As of Wednesday, it <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20201216191412/https://www.gogokid.com/parent/privacy/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">stated</a> in Chinese, "We store your personal information collected within the territory of the People's Republic of China in accordance with the provisions of laws and regulations." It is no longer available in the U.S. App Store.</p><p>In response to questions about where GoGoKid's U.S. user data is stored, another ByteDance spokesperson said, "GoGoKid is focused on giving students in the Chinese market the opportunity to learn English, and it is only available for students in Chinese." That doesn't account for the many American and Canadian teachers on the platform who are also GoGoKid users. GoGoKid's own <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20201215075825/http://teacher.gogokid.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">website</a> features testimonials from several non-Chinese teachers.</p><p>The spokesperson downplayed the app's traction in the U.S., saying GoGoKid "has only been downloaded around 1,000 times in the U.S. market," but didn't specify whether that number referred to the student app, the teacher portal or both. Data on U.S. downloads of the app among teachers is hard to come by, and SensorTower doesn't track it, but one GoGoKid Teachers Facebook <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/620894108258045" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">group</a> alone has more than 5,000 members. </p><p><div class="ad-tag"><div class="ad-place-holder" data-pos="3">
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</div></p><p>At no point did ByteDance deny that these apps stored U.S. user data in China.</p><p>These data storage arrangements for Xigua, Toutiao and GoGoKid raise questions about why ByteDance hasn't walled off U.S. user data for those apps in the same way it's done for TikTok. Neither the White House nor the Department of Commerce, which have both issued orders related to TikTok this year, responded to Protocol's request for comment.</p><p>In sworn <a href="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/21961061/cloutier_declaration.pdf" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">testimony</a> as part of TikTok's legal battles against the Trump administration this year, the company's chief security officer, Roland Cloutier, described at length the difference between TikTok's tech stack and that of its Chinese counterpart, Douyin. Cloutier wrote that the "source code and user data for TikTok are maintained separately from the source code and user data for Douyin (and other ByteDance products)." Cloutier went on to state that TikTok "would not comply with a request for U.S. user data from the Chinese government."</p><p>That argument, it seems, has been compelling in court, where TikTok has been winning case after case against the Trump administration's attempts to ban the app under the guise of a national security emergency. But while TikTok was carefully spinning off its own servers for U.S. users, ByteDance appears to have taken no such precautions with its other apps. </p><p>ByteDance's acquisition of the app that predated TikTok, called Musical.ly, was the subject of an investigation by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, which vets foreign acquisitions of U.S. companies. But both Toutiao and Xigua are homegrown Chinese apps that just happen to have U.S. users, which would place them outside of the purview of CFIUS, said Shannon Reaves, special counsel at the law firm Stroock, who specializes in CFIUS reviews.</p><p><div class="ad-tag"><div class="ad-place-holder" data-pos="4">
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</div></p><p>"The establishment of that entity and its operation is not subject to CFIUS review," Reaves said, adding, "[CFIUS] could certainly look at that to inform their views about the TikTok acquisition and what they think might happen with the data from TikTok."</p><p>The Trump administration was under no such constraints, however, and tried (unsuccessfully) to to ban all transactions with ByteDance through <a href="https://whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/executive-order-addressing-threat-posed-tiktok/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">executive order</a>. The order paid particular attention to TikTok, and a subsequent directive from the Commerce Department specifically prohibited TikTok (again, unsuccessfully) from operating in the U.S. after a certain date. But neither order made any mention of these apps.</p><p>There are differences of course, between TikTok and Xigua or Toutiao. For one thing, TikTok has tremendous scale in the U.S.; recent court filings revealed that the company has 100 million monthly active U.S. users. SensorTower's data suggests Toutiao and Xigua combined have only around 1 million users in the U.S. And while TikTok is clearly marketed directly to Americans, complete with a huge American staff, Xigua and Toutiao are delivered internationally in Chinese and seem entirely geared toward Chinese people and the Chinese diaspora. That may make these apps less of a target to U.S. regulators and politicians, but it doesn't make their U.S. users' data any more secure. </p><p><div class="ad-tag"><div class="ad-place-holder" data-pos="5">
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</div></p><p>GoGoKid, on the other hand, is very clearly marketed to teachers in the U.S. and Canada. While some teachers expressed <a href="https://www.latimes.com/business/technology/story/2020-09-03/english-teachers-caught-in-trump-war-on-tiktok" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">anxiety</a> about President Trump's executive orders this fall, fearing it might interfere with income they made from GoGoKid, the teacher app is still available in the U.S.</p><p>The Federal Trade Commission recently <a href="https://www.protocol.com/ftc-data-order-social-media" target="_self">ordered</a> ByteDance and U.S. social media companies to hand over information about how they collect data from users. In response to a question about whether the FTC will be looking at ByteDance's other properties beyond TikTok, spokesperson Juliana Gruenwald said, "The orders focus on any and all social media and video streaming services" that these companies own, adding that the investigation will look into not just how data is collected, but also how and where it is stored.</p>
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Issie Lapowsky (@issielapowsky) is a senior reporter at Protocol, covering the intersection of technology, politics, and national affairs. Previously, she was a senior writer at Wired, where she covered the 2016 election and the Facebook beat in its aftermath. Prior to that, Issie worked as a staff writer for Inc. magazine, writing about small business and entrepreneurship. She has also worked as an on-air contributor for CBS News and taught a graduate-level course at New York University’s Center for Publishing on how tech giants have affected publishing. Email Issie.
People
Adobe wants to use AI to make you a better dancer
The company's new tech demo could improve everyone's TikTok videos — and hints at the potential for AI to democratize video editing and visual effects.
The technology can also be used to take clips and adjust movements to a different song, or take multiple clips from different sources and adjust all of them to the piece of music.
Image: Adobe
October 21, 2020
Janko Roettgers (@jank0) is a senior reporter at Protocol, reporting on the shifting power dynamics between tech, media, and entertainment, including the impact of new technologies. Previously, Janko was Variety's first-ever technology writer in San Francisco, where he covered big tech and emerging technologies. He has reported for Gigaom, Frankfurter Rundschau, Berliner Zeitung, and ORF, among others. He has written three books on consumer cord-cutting and online music and co-edited an anthology on internet subcultures. He lives with his family in Oakland.
October 21, 2020
Can't dance? You're not alone.
"Syncing up music and dancing can be hard," said Adobe Research Scientist Jimei Yang during a recent interview. Not only can holding the beat be challenging for some people, but using consumer-grade recording equipment can also introduce additional delays that make the result look off-beat. "It isn't that trivial," Yang said.
<p>That's why Yang's team at Adobe developed technology that can tweak an existing video and make dance moves match the rhythm of the music. The researchers are set to demonstrate their work, dubbed "Project On The Beat," at Adobe's annual Max conference Wednesday, but Yang gave Protocol an exclusive preview last week.</p><p>This is how Adobe's dance improvement algorithms work in a nutshell:</p><ul class="ee-ul"><li>First, the project uses Adobe's Sensei AI tech for skeletal tracking to identify the motions of the dancer.</li><li>Then, it breaks those motions down to find the strongest movements — think claps and stomps — which Adobe's researchers call "motion beats."</li><li>The video's music is segmented based on these key poses, and the motion beats are compared to the actual beats of the song.</li><li>Finally, the video is adjusted segment by segment to match the motion beats to the music. "We just need to retime the video, basically warp the video," Yang said.</li></ul><div class="rm-embed embed-media"><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/R-0w3IuGEKU" width="560"></iframe></div><p>The technology can also be used to take clips and adjust movements to a different song, or take multiple clips from different sources and adjust all of them to the piece of music. This even works with videos that only show a person's upper body.<br></p><p><div class="ad-tag"><div class="ad-place-holder" data-pos="1">
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</div></p><p>Like much of the technology shown during these Adobe Max research demos, Yang's work isn't part of any Adobe product yet. However, that could change. "We are actively working with the product team," Yang said. One could imagine it as an addition to a future version of Adobe Premiere Rush, the company's mobile video-editing app for influencers and other social media users.</p><p>Beyond any such specific use cases, the demo shows the potential for AI to automate and ultimately democratize video editing. Until now, video editors would have to manually segment and adjust each part of a video to synchronize music and movement with desktop video-editing software. By letting AI do the work, the same can be done faster, and on mobile devices, literally putting this kind of video editing into many more hands. "AI is really changing the video editing business, especially for amateurs," Yang said. <em></em></p><p><em>A version of this story will appear in our entertainment newsletter, Next Up. <a href="https://www.protocol.com/newsletters/" target="_blank">Sign up here</a> to get it in your inbox every Thursday.</em></p>
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Janko Roettgers (@jank0) is a senior reporter at Protocol, reporting on the shifting power dynamics between tech, media, and entertainment, including the impact of new technologies. Previously, Janko was Variety's first-ever technology writer in San Francisco, where he covered big tech and emerging technologies. He has reported for Gigaom, Frankfurter Rundschau, Berliner Zeitung, and ORF, among others. He has written three books on consumer cord-cutting and online music and co-edited an anthology on internet subcultures. He lives with his family in Oakland.
People
How the pandemic has changed tech business travel to China
In 2020, visiting China for business can be a bit like playing the lottery.
After concluding his 14 days in isolation, startup adviser Kevin Yang was free to continue his business trip.
Photo: Kevin Yang
October 21, 2020
Janko Roettgers (@jank0) is a senior reporter at Protocol, reporting on the shifting power dynamics between tech, media, and entertainment, including the impact of new technologies. Previously, Janko was Variety's first-ever technology writer in San Francisco, where he covered big tech and emerging technologies. He has reported for Gigaom, Frankfurter Rundschau, Berliner Zeitung, and ORF, among others. He has written three books on consumer cord-cutting and online music and co-edited an anthology on internet subcultures. He lives with his family in Oakland.
October 21, 2020
Kevin Yang has traveled to China countless times. As a former Huawei and Oppo executive, he used to visit the country almost every quarter. However, when Yang recently got ready to visit a Chinese startup he is advising, he quickly realized that the pandemic would make this a very different trip.
Yang has been documenting his trip in a series of LinkedIn posts, which offer some fascinating insights into the state of business travel during COVID, the ever-growing importance of WeChat in a country recovering from the pandemic, and shifts in the Chinese tech industry as it adapts to a rapidly changing world.
<p>One of Yang's most striking observations is the omnipresence of WeChat in China, and the way the pandemic has reinforced its importance to the Chinese. To prepare for his trip, Yang joined a number of WeChat groups, which helped him get his documents in order. (To get a special visa, China currently requires an invite, a negative COVID test and more from foreign visitors). He also joined a dedicated WeChat group for passengers of his flight, and one to chat with people who had taken this very flight in recent weeks. </p><p><div class="ad-tag"><div class="ad-place-holder" data-pos="1">
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</div></p><p>Once Yang landed in China, WeChat became even more important. Instead of filling out a customs form on paper, he prepared his customs declaration in a WeChat mini-app, which then generated a QR code that was scanned by customs officials. At the airport, he was prompted to scan another QR code to prepare for his local travel — all within WeChat. "The Chinese government wanted to make all the processes contactless," Yang told Protocol.</p><p>WeChat has long been a <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/04/technology/wechat-china-united-states.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">daily utility in China</a> for everything from communication to cashless payments. However, the embrace of WeChat as an essential tool for international travel during the pandemic comes at a time when the Trump administration <a href="https://www.protocol.com/bulletins/wechat-ban-judge-halt" target="_self">is pushing to ban the app from U.S. app stores</a>. "It would make the process very difficult for foreign travelers," Yang said about a possible WeChat ban.</p><p>Once Yang arrived in China, he had to undergo a mandatory 14-day quarantine in a randomly assigned hotel. "Finding out the quarantine hotel is like opening a mystery box in 2020," he wrote on LinkedIn. On one of his WeChat groups, people had crowdsourced a number of hotels used to quarantine international travelers, complete with reports on whether the hotels allowed guests to order outside food. "Some were overjoyed to find that they were assigned to the so-called 'Lottery Hotels,'" he wrote. "Some were disappointed when they got a crappy hotel."</p><p><div class="ad-tag"><div class="ad-place-holder" data-pos="2">
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</div></p><p>Yang ended up staying in two relatively basic hotels, one of which didn't allow outside food. Instead, hotel staff dropped off meals outside of his room three times a day. Yang was a bit disappointed by the choice of food, but some of his fellow international travelers had a much harder time. One visitor from Spain in particular wasn't exactly familiar with some of the traditional Chinese dishes, including chicken feet. "He complained all the time," Yang said.</p><p>One day, an ambulance arrived at the hotel to pick up one of the quarantined guests. On WeChat, other travelers started freaking out, worried that one of the guests had gotten COVID. But soon after, they learned that it was the Spaniard, who was being relocated to a Western-style hotel. He hadn't been ill; he just didn't like chicken feet.</p><p>Yang used much of his time in quarantine doing video chats to catch up with friends and colleagues, including some who he got to work with as a procurement director for Huawei. Many of the folks working in the chipset industry were especially upbeat, he noted on LinkedIn: "China is investing heavily […] in replacing American chips with homegrown solutions." Prompted by the escalating trade war, and attempts of the Trump administration to cut off companies like Huawei from the U.S. semiconductor supply chain, the Chinese government has rolled out massive incentives to <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2020/09/14/china-semiconductor-industry-tries-to-catch-up-with-us-chip-makers.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">kickstart homegrown chip production</a>. </p><p><div class="ad-tag"><div class="ad-place-holder" data-pos="3">
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</div></p><p>These measures include direct financial assistance from the government, as well as easier access to land and real estate to build out manufacturing capabilities. A year ago, it was still challenging to raise money for chip manufacturing in China, Yang said. These days, it has become one of the country's hottest investment areas. "This moment is huge," Yang said. "It's a gold rush."</p><p>Yang was able to leave quarantine after 14 days and another negative COVID test. Since then, he has been able to move about in China with few restrictions. He's taken taxis, subways, airplanes and other forms of transportation, noting at one point on LinkedIn that this alone felt like "a luxury in a world terrorized by COVID." "It's a very different feeling," he told Protocol.</p><p>In the end, Yang is glad that he traveled to China, even with the hassle of mandatory quarantine. Still, he cautioned that it can be especially challenging for anyone not fluent in Chinese. "Right now, it's difficult to travel to China for foreigners," Yang said. "Be prepared," he advised. "Do some research." </p><p>And, one might add, get ready to expand your culinary horizons.</p><p><em><strong>Correction</strong>: The caption on the photo for this story misrepresented how many days Kevin Yang spent in quarantine. It was 14, not 11.</em><br></p>
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Janko Roettgers (@jank0) is a senior reporter at Protocol, reporting on the shifting power dynamics between tech, media, and entertainment, including the impact of new technologies. Previously, Janko was Variety's first-ever technology writer in San Francisco, where he covered big tech and emerging technologies. He has reported for Gigaom, Frankfurter Rundschau, Berliner Zeitung, and ORF, among others. He has written three books on consumer cord-cutting and online music and co-edited an anthology on internet subcultures. He lives with his family in Oakland.
Politics
The DOJ sues Google for monopoly practices — and says there’s more to come
Google's response: 'People use Google because they choose to – not because they're forced to or because they can't find alternatives.'
The DOJ's case revolves around some of Google's antitrust weak spots, including the exclusive, billion-dollar agreements that require mobile-phone manufacturers to keep Google as their default search engine.
Photo: Future Publishing/Getty Images
October 20, 2020
Emily Birnbaum ( @birnbaum_e) is a tech policy reporter with Protocol. Her coverage focuses on the U.S. government's attempts to regulate one of the most powerful industries in the world, with a focus on antitrust, privacy and politics. Previously, she worked as a tech policy reporter with The Hill after spending several months as a breaking news reporter. She is a Bethesda, Maryland native and proud Kenyon College alumna.
October 20, 2020
The Department of Justice sued Google for antitrust violations on Tuesday, setting off what is likely to be a yearslong battle that will indelibly shape the future of the tech industry.
The case, which was filed in federal court in Washington, marks the most aggressive action by the U.S. government against a tech company in decades. The DOJ accuses Google of leveraging its dominant position in search and search-advertising to elbow out rivals and disadvantage competitors.
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The case revolves around some of Google's antitrust weak spots: the exclusive, billion-dollar agreements that require mobile-phone manufacturers to keep Google as their default search engine, as well as Google's decision to preload Google search on Android phones. The European Union <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/18/technology/google-eu-android-fine.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">fined Google $5.1 billion</a> over similar allegations two years ago.
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"Two decades ago, Google became the darling of Silicon Valley as a scrappy startup with an innovative way to search the emerging internet," the DOJ wrote in the complaint. "That Google is long gone."
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"For many years, Google has used anticompetitive tactics to maintain and extend its monopolies in the markets for general search services, search advertising, and general search text advertising — the cornerstones of its empire," the DOJ added.
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During a call with reporters Tuesday morning, DOJ officials emphasized that this is only the beginning of a long effort to take on Google.
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"We're asking the court to break Google's grip on search distribution so competition and innovation can take hold, and consumers and advertisers will no longer be beholden to an unchecked monopolist," said Ryan Shores, the DOJ's senior adviser for technology industries.
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In a statement, Google called the lawsuit "deeply flawed." A Google spokesperson added: "People use Google because they choose to – not because they're forced to or because they can't find alternatives."
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The case was filed by the DOJ along with the Republican attorneys general from Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, South Carolina and Texas. Other states currently investigating Google, including those led by Democrats, are likely to file their own separate cases in the upcoming months.
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The case could mean <a href="https://www.protocol.com/antitrust-proposals-big-tech" target="_self">serious structural changes for Google</a>, including a breakup. There's no discussion of potential remedies in the case filed Tuesday, as those discussions usually happen further down the line. But the battle is only beginning, and it will last well past the Nov. 3 election.
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Antitrust experts are predicting that a potential Biden administration would carry the case forward, considering the bipartisan energy around taking on the enormous power of the largest tech companies.
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"I would definitely anticipate the Biden Justice Department carrying this forward," said John Newman, an associate professor of law at the University of Miami and former DOJ antitrust lawyer. "There seems to be a growing consensus in Democratic party circles that Biden needs to be stronger on antitrust than Obama was."
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Newman said a Biden administration could even widen the scope of the antitrust complaint and potential remedies.
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Over the last century, antitrust cases against dominant tech firms have triggered huge shifts in the tech industry's trajectory. The antitrust case against IBM in 1975 gave Microsoft room to flourish; the 1984 AT&T antitrust case opened new opportunities in the cellular market; and the 1990s case against Microsoft has been credited with enabling the rise of Google and Facebook.
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In those cases, it didn't matter whether the U.S. government won its case or not. The act of suing a dominant tech firm changed how the company did business and created room for smaller companies to blossom.
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"Historians will hopefully look at today as the beginning of the end of the surveillance economy," <a href="https://twitter.com/yegg/status/1318551960958783489" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">said</a> Gabriel Weinberg, the CEO and founder of Google rival DuckDuckGo.
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The DOJ's case against Google is certain to be marred by allegations of political bias. Attorney General William Barr was <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/20/technology/google-antitrust.html?smtyp=cur&smid=tw-nytimes" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">unusually involved</a> in the Google investigation from the beginning, and he reportedly pushed to file the suit before the election <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/internal-justice-department-dispute-arises-over-possible-google-antitrust-suit-11597700874" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">over objections from Justice Department staff</a>.</p><p><div class="ad-tag"><div class="ad-place-holder" data-pos="3">
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From Your Site Articles
- Cicilline names the three biggest antitrust concerns around Big Tech ... ›
- Kill zones and 'escape valves': What the antitrust report means for ... ›
- What the antitrust proposals would actually mean for tech - Protocol ›
- Why Joe Biden might kill the Google case - Protocol ›
- The DOJ went narrow on Google. That may be good news for the rest of Big Tech. - Protocol ›
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Emily Birnbaum ( @birnbaum_e) is a tech policy reporter with Protocol. Her coverage focuses on the U.S. government's attempts to regulate one of the most powerful industries in the world, with a focus on antitrust, privacy and politics. Previously, she worked as a tech policy reporter with The Hill after spending several months as a breaking news reporter. She is a Bethesda, Maryland native and proud Kenyon College alumna.
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