China says does not ask firms for foreign data as TikTok row grows - CNA

PROJECT TEXAS

A ban would be an unprecedented act on a media company by the US government, cutting off the country's 150 million monthly users from an app that has become a cultural powerhouse - especially for young people.

"TikTok has repeatedly chosen the path for more control, more surveillance and more manipulation. Your platform should be banned," committee chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers said.

Supporters of TikTok and free speech activists criticised the hearing as political theatre and urged against an outright ban.

"Taking a bludgeon to TikTok, and by extension to Americans' First Amendment protections, is not the right solution to the risks that TikTok poses to the privacy of Americans and to the national security of the United States," said Nadine Farid Johnson of PEN America, which defends free speech.

And Beijing noted on Friday that "some in the US congress stated that seeking a ban of TikTok is a xenophobic political persecution".

TikTok still hopes to appease the authorities.

Chew's testimony promoted the company's elaborate plan - known as Project Texas - to satisfy national security concerns, under which the handling of US data will be ring-fenced into a US-run division.

But lawmakers poured doubts on the project, saying it would do nothing to remove their concerns that TikTok was vulnerable to China.
 

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2023-03-24 08:49:00Z
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Certis officer hit by car at Tuas Checkpoint, suffers severe head injury - The Straits Times

SINGAPORE – An auxiliary police officer suffered severe head injury after he was hit by a car at Tuas Checkpoint in the early hours of Friday morning.

The Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) said on Friday that it was alerted to the accident involving a Singapore-registered car at 12.55am.

“Preliminary investigations reveal the car driver was driving at a high speed before hitting the auxiliary police officer stationed outside the observation post at the entry of the departure car zone at Tuas Checkpoint,” it added.

The Singapore Civil Defence Force and Traffic Police were called to the scene immediately. The officer, who is employed by Certis, and the driver were taken to the National University Hospital.

ICA and Certis are in contact with the officer’s family to provide the necessary support. Police investigations are ongoing.

ICA said in a Facebook post at 3am that the accident had blocked all three lanes leading towards the departure car and motorbike zone at Tuas Checkpoint. It urged motorists to use the departure cargo lanes instead and to expect delays.

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2023-03-23 22:34:33Z
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Xi's Moscow visit risks further emboldening Putin: Analysts - CNA

China's peace plan was "obviously very strongly in Russia's favour", she said, adding that Beijing was ready to give Moscow "time to end the war in its favour", albeit with implicit backing rather than pro-active support.

"Certainly, Putin would have wished for more - especially on a gas deal with China - but the optics of the visit were so important to him that he accepts Russia's increasing dependence on China," she said.

"GIFT TO PUTIN"

The visit was "perceived by the non-Western world as a counterweight to the decision" of the ICC, said Alexander Baunov, senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

It's "as if the Chinese leader had broken the curse on Putin" after the warrant was issued, he said.

Sam Greene, director of democratic resilience at the CEPA think tank in Washington, described the visit as a "gift" to Putin - unless there is a new twist like telephone talks between Xi and his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy, though none have been announced.

It is "essentially permission from Beijing to keep fighting. It is, though, Xi's only gift to Putin", Greene wrote on Twitter.

China has not applied Western sanctions against Moscow, instead increasing its imports of hydrocarbons from Russia and maintaining economic interests in Russia during the invasion.

Xi's recent peace proposals have largely garnered scepticism on the West, in particular the United States.

For Antoine Bondaz, a specialist in Chinese foreign policy at the Foundation for Strategic Research (FRS), "what is at stake today for China in the war in Ukraine is not the future of Ukraine... It's the Sino-American rivalry and the desire to discredit Western countries".

Xi's trip to Moscow represents "anything but distancing" by China from Russia, he added.

"MARRIAGE OF CONVENIENCE"

While Xi and Putin sought to emphasise their friendship and respect in their meetings - addressing each other constantly as "dear" - China is very much the senior partner.

Its population and economy dwarf those of its neighbour, where thinly populated regions in the Russian far east keep a wary eye on booming Chinese megacities on the other side of the Amur river that forms part of their border.

Xi's support is crucial for Putin as he insists that it is only the West that opposes his invasion of Ukraine, and not the international community as a whole.

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2023-03-23 13:52:42Z
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Singaporean TikTok CEO testifies before US Congress over company's China ties - The Straits Times

In his opening remarks, Mr Chew distanced himself and the company from the Chinese government by telling Congress lawmakers he was born in Singapore and attended college in Britain and the US, where he met his wife.

He added that TikTok’s headquarters are in Los Angeles.

In defending the social media platform, Mr Chew pointed out TikTok’s benefits to children and young people.

He said educational videos, such as those on mathematics and science, have been watched more than 116 billion times on the platform.

On the issue of collecting data, Mr Chew said TikTok does not collect more data than other tech companies, saying the app neither collects precise GPS location information nor health data.

Tiktok is committed to being very transparent, he added.

“We do not promote or remove content at the request of the Chinese government”, he said, adding that “it is our commitment to this committee and all our users that we will keep (TikTok) free from any manipulation by any government.”

But the top Democrat on the panel, Representative Frank Pallone, argued with that statement.

He said: “My problem here is, you’re trying to give the impression that you’re going to move away from Beijing and the Communist Party ... but the commitments that we would seek to achieve those goals are not being made today.”

“You’re gonna continue to gather data, you’re gonna continue to sell data ... and continue to be under the aegis of the Communist Party,” Mr Pallone added.

Mr Chew’s testimony before Congress will also cap a week of actions by the Chinese company aimed at convincing Americans and their lawmakers that the app creates economic value and supports free speech.

TikTok has more than 150 million Americans users.

It has faced sharp accusations that its US user data would be shared with the Chinese government and that it fails to adequately protect children from harm.

TikTok has said it has spent more than US$1.5 billion (S$2 billion) on what it calls rigorous data security efforts under the name Project Texas.

TikTok would remain owned by ByteDance, but would put all of the data generated by American users on domestic servers operated and run by Oracle, the software giant in Austin, Texas.

Only Oracle and US-based TikTok employees would have access to the accounts and data of American users, TikTok said.

It also says it rigorously screens content that could harm children.

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2023-03-23 13:27:49Z
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How TikTok became a US-China national security issue - CNA

Depending on whom you ask, the short-form video app TikTok is where you watch goofy dances and makeup tutorials, or it’s a gravely sophisticated threat to US national security.

Because TikTok is owned by a Chinese company, ByteDance - and because China is known to be interested in having its technology companies share the data they collect - its ubiquitous popularity among Americans carries geopolitical implications far beyond the mobile-phone screen.  

WHAT MAKES TIKTOK DIFFERENT FROM OTHER SOCIAL MEDIA SITES?

Like US-owned social media platforms such as YouTube, Facebook and Instagram, TikTok collects all sorts of data about each user and through an algorithm, uses that information to deliver more of what the person seems to want.

But TikTok is viewed as potentially the most advanced, and uncannily effective, at learning about your interests - based on how long you stay with a video and whether you like, forward or comment on it - and, through its algorithm, delivering more of that to your “For You” feed. Some people joke that TikTok’s “For You” knows you better than you know yourself.

That makes Chinese ownership of TikTok - the most salient difference between it and other social media, in the eyes of US critics - particularly worrisome. So does this: American adult users of TikTok will spend an average of 56 minutes a day on the app this year, far more than on either Facebook or Instagram, according to researcher Insider Intelligence. 

WHAT ARE THE BIGGEST WORRIES ABOUT TIKTOK?

The national security concerns involve hypothetical, though not implausible, scenarios in which China’s government employs its influence over ByteDance to turn TikTok into an instrument of harm against American interests, through such channels as:

• Data collection: Along with what you seem to be interested in, TikTok learns your computer’s unique internet protocol (IP) address as well as - if you choose to let it - your precise location data and who is on your contact list. All that could be used to “develop profiles on millions of Americans” that could be used to blackmail them, Senator Marco Rubio of Florida and Representative Mike Gallagher of Wisconsin, both Republicans, wrote in November.
• Espionage: A 2020 executive order by then-president Donald Trump broached the possibility that China could use TikTok’s data to “track the locations of federal employees and contractors” and to “conduct corporate espionage”.
• Influence operations: US national security officials are concerned that TikTok could try to shape US public opinion by strategically suppressing or promoting certain videos.

IS THERE EVIDENCE TO BACK UP THOSE CONCERNS?

In December, the chief executives of ByteDance and TikTok admitted that ByteDance employees had inappropriately accessed the IP address of American users, including journalists writing critical stories about the company.

The Justice Department is investigating whether that amounted to improper surveillance of Americans. While not involving TikTok specifically, there have been numerous reports in recent years about China attempting through various means to influence US politics, including elections. These types of concerted campaigns continue to proliferate across all social media apps.

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2023-03-23 07:25:00Z
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Ties with federal government improved under PM Anwar, says Johor Sultan - CNA

Separately, Sultan Ibrahim also stressed that the country’s reputation has been damaged by corruption. He urged Mr Anwar and the relevant agencies to take action, adding that the “whole system” needs to be cleaned up. 

“Change. Clean up the whole system and clear the corrupt, no matter who they are,” said Sultan Ibrahim, according to The Star. 

As part of his clampdown on corruption, Mr Anwar told the country’s civil servants in November last year that approvals for government procurement can no longer be given without a tender process. 

He said then that the government under his leadership will not allow for financial leakages and corruption to continue, adding that the image of the civil service must be restored. 

Earlier in January, it was reported that Malaysia scored lower again in Transparency International’s annual Corruption Perception Index 2022 (CPI 2022). 

The index ranks 180 countries and territories around the world by their perceived levels of public sector corruption, scoring on a scale of 0 (highly corrupt) to 100 (very clean).

According to the anti-graft group’s latest report, Malaysia had a CPI score of 47 for 2022. This a six-point drop over the preceding three years.

FMT reported that, in 2019, Malaysia had a CPI score of 53, but this reduced to 51 in 2020, and 48 in 2021.

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2023-03-23 07:52:00Z
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'Cleanfluencers' sweep TikTok, drawing millions - CNA

She can relate to people living in miserable conditions because she went through a period of depression herself, she said.

"I know how overwhelming it is," she said.

But her experience has shown her that no situation is hopeless.

The comments sections of her videos are filled with people saying how her videos have helped them cope with their difficulties, praising her non-judgemental manner.

"I love how she is understanding the person in this situation and helping them instead of blaming them," one commenter wrote.

TIKTOK TIDIERS

With the global rise of TikTok, cleaning videos have become hugely popular on social media, inspiring a growing number to start posting content.

"I was watching videos and I thought, that's what I do at home, I can just film myself doing it," recalled 27-year-old Abbi, known as cleanwithabbi to her 2 million followers.

The English single mum films herself cleaning, doing the dishes and hoovering in her red brick home in Huyton near Liverpool.

Cleaning has always been an important part of her life as her youngest son Billy lives with sensory processing disorder.

"He really loves his routine and he does like things to be clean," she said.

Now Abbi, who does not wish to reveal her full name, posts TikTok videos for a living. Brands sponsor her to use their products, and she earns between US$720 and US$1,200 a video.

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2023-03-23 04:27:51Z
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