On Tiktok, Internet users are having fun with the potential ban on Tiktok in the United States. In this trend that mocks the security issues surrounding the app, users thank their “Chinese spy” for monitoring them.
The noose is tightening around Tiktok. There are only a few days left for ByteDance, the parent company of the social network, to sell Tiktok, under penalty of being banned from American soil.
Indeed, last April, the United States adopted, by a large majority, a law which obliges the Chinese entertainment giant ByteDance to sell Tiktok by January 19, 2025, failing which the platform will be banned in the territory . The application is notably accused of helping Beijing to spy on and manipulate its 170 million users in the United States. Enough to threaten the national security of the country.
Millions of views on the clock
If the prospect of this ban worries many content creators, some prefer to take it as a joke. As spotted by The Verge, in recent days, some videographers have had fun saying “goodbye to their personal Chinese spy” or “thanking their spy” for monitoring them and offering them suitable content.
Thus, a user took a moving scene from the hit series Squid Gamewith the caption: “Me saying goodbye to my Chinese spy on the 19th (He perfected my algorithm)”. His publication has almost 6 million views.
“It’s a great honor to have spied on you in recent years,” jokes another Internet user, implying that he is one of the “spies” who would monitor American users on behalf of Beijing. “I wish you all a good life in the future…Laura from California, you should not drink so much Coca-Cola, it’s bad for your health.”
Others decide to share true declarations of love to their “Chinese spy”. “You looked after me all these years,” remembers a user before humming in Chinese, in homage to the short video application.
“I know you were watching over me.”
“My dear Chinese spy, thank you for your help. I wanted to thank you for all the good times we spent together. I know that you were watching over me (…) you made me meet many people that I would have never met otherwise, you gave me a place for my voice to be heard,” says an influencer in an “open letter” to her Chinese spy.
Another user staged his trip to China to find “his personal Chinese spy” who knows him “better than anyone”.
“I will personally deliver my social security number, blood type and banking information to the CCP (Chinese Communist Party, editor’s note) and President Xi Jinping before setting foot in Meta because of the TikTok ban” , writes another, while packing her bags.
Indeed, many influencers try to find another application on which to take refuge to continue sharing content. The majority plan to turn to Instagram if Tiktok is banned. Meta’s social network notably allows users to continue publishing videos in the form of Reels.
