US to ban transactions with ByteDance and WeChat in 45 days
I don&#x27;t get it. It&#x27;s US companies standing to loose their stronghold (near monopoly) on social, advertisement, and other forms of monetizing the web if the US creates a precedent for &quot;national security&quot; in this way, as in &quot;we&#x27;re welcoming social networks and free speech as long as it benefits the US and can be searched without warrant.&quot; Quite predictably, governments all over the world will be pressurized to question why they should give US companies (bred by teethless US antitrust) a free pass to destroy their publishing industry. Publishers themselves will put this onto the agenda in their own best interest. The French are already on the fence to create new digital tax legislation after EU&#x2F;US negotiation have been aborted by the US side. Maybe hurting Google, Facebook, Twitter &amp; co is seen as desired collateral damage?