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So, here's my question: if data collection by the Chinese gov is the real issue in the Tiktok / Wechat bans, why hasn't Alibaba been directly targeted? They have over a decade of data on US companies and users via Ali's B2B wholesale platform.
A third of Ali's B2B customers are US businesses, and the platform opened up to US sellers last year. Trade data is arguably much higher value to the Chinese gov than anything they're going to pull off of Tiktok.
Ali also routinely (and provably) cooperates on data collection projects with the government, builds Chinese data collection infrastructure, and pushes forward China's tech policy agenda via initiatives like the eWTP. https://www.ewtp.org/
So, if I was worried about citizen data and a "clean" internet, my biggest concern would not be friggin' ByteDance. If this whole thing was more than a badly-researched political power play, Alibaba would be first in the crosshairs.
To be clear, I do not support any of these bans in their current incarnation, nor would I support a similar ban of Ali. I am saying the logic does not hold up.
But you better believe that Ali is on full alert right now, and I can only hope Trump understands that cutting off US businesses from their overseas markets and supply chains is a terrible, terrible idea.
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