TikTok bans: ‘not possible’ for Japan to outlaw China-linked app – except ‘quietly’ on official devices

Analysts say Tokyo is unlikely to risk angering Beijing by pulling TikTok from the country’s app stores given the vast amount of trade that’s at stake

But it will more strictly enforce a pre-existing ban covering government equipment, they say – just don’t expect any public statements about it

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Published: 8:45am, 29 Mar 2023Updated: 9:57am, 29 Mar 2023

The Japanese government is under increasing pressure to broaden a ban on social networking services such as TikTok if there is evidence of such apps being used to influence public attitudes and promote disinformation.

A group of politicians from the ruling Liberal Democratic Party indicated this week that they plan to put forward a proposal in the coming weeks for the government to tighten regulations on apps that could mine data on users, damage national security or impact the nation’s economy.

Party member Norihiro Nakayama said that the new regulations “will help keep app operators in check” if a system “has been intentionally used by a certain party or a certain country for their influence operations with malice”.

In that event, he said the government should have the power to halt the service.

But analysts said the government did not “have the legislative power to go that far”, and that Japan was likely to avoid antagonising Beijing more than was absolutely necessary, given already poor relations with China and the vast amount of bilateral trade that could be at risk.