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A hostile week of US-China relations was punctuated by forced consulate closures in Houston and Chengdu, but the dueling superpowers’ cold conflict has been heating up on the digital landscape for months, if not years.
China began censoring online speech and interfering with access almost as soon as the internet took off. By 2014, the country was hosting an annual internet conference to promote “cyber sovereignty“(✦ Quartz member exclusive)—the position that a state’s sovereignty extends beyond its physical territory into cyberspace, and that countries, in turn, shouldn’t interfere with how others regulate the internet.
Russia and Iran have also pushed forward with “domestic” internets, but these moves had been seen as largely the purview of authoritarian regimes—until last month, when India banned 59 Chinese apps, including TikTok, citing privacy and national security concerns. The Trump administration has signaled that the US may also block TikTok—it would be the country’s first ban of a foreign online platform—in “weeks not months.”
This would have an enormous impact, argues Samm Sacks, a cybersecurity and China expert at the Washington, DC-based New America think tank. “If the US does it, it opens the floodgate for advanced liberal democracies to begin doing this too,” she says.
While some China tech watchers argue that tougher measures by the US are necessary to address an imbalanced cyberspace relationship with China, experts say there are better ways to deal with an inevitably recurring concern in the internet economy.
One alternative is the European model. The 2018 privacy rules known as GDPR fragmented the internet in their own way, with the aim of protecting user data from the prying eyes of US tech giants and government surveillance.
“Playing whack-a-mole with companies that are deemed to have ‘good’ or ‘bad’ data, privacy or foreign data reporting conduct is…not very productive in the absence of setting clearer data standards and issuing regulations that govern data usage by companies both domestic and foreign,” says Rui Zhong, a researcher at the Wilson Center’s Kissinger Institute in Washington, DC. “Removing TikTok is a band-aid on a much larger underlying problem.”— Jane Li
Five things on Quartz we especially liked
A new Cultural Revolution. Hong Kong’s recently implemented national security law is casting a pall across offices and schools, as civil servants, teachers, and even nurses fear that snitches will report on anything they say or do as being “anti-government,” reports Mary Hui. To many, it’s reminiscent of the campaign launched by Mao Zedong that implored friends, colleagues, and family members to turn on each other to purge political enemies.—Isabella Steger, news editor
Mint conditions. How much has Covid-19 made non-drivers consider cars? Here’s a data point: The host of a podcast called “The War On Cars” admitted that even he is considering buying one. But if you’re not seeing many 2020 models on the road, this piece by Micheal Coren (✦) can explain. This fall, he writes, “Americans may find the most desirable car was once someone else’s.” —Lila MacLellan, Quartz at Work senior reporter
Pull up a chair. Working from home raises many new challenges, among them: where to sit, and when to trade the kitchen-table chair for something more ergonomic and, well, permanent. As Anne Quito writes for Quartz at Work, that search will leave remote workers wanting: No major commercial furniture manufacturers have designed a convincing high-performance chair that blends in with the rest of our homes (✦). —Kira Bindrim, executive editor
The final frontier of tidying. I love mess. And I love history. So it’s a real treat when senior reporter Tim Fernholz fills me in on the first Costa Rican astronaut who also happens to be launching a space junk-hunting radar. Franklin Chang Diaz is bringing the space economy back to his native country with a radar that tracks tiny debris in low-earth orbit. That’s a big deal.—Max Lockie, deputy news editor
The arts are essential, too. While theater, museums, and comedy may not get the official “essential business” designation, arts and culture can bring solace and distraction during these trying times, not to mention providing livelihoods for their practitioners and other employees of the institutions that house them. For Quartz India, Manavi Kapur details how exhibitions and performances have adapted—from creating 3D models of artworks to selling tickets for online shows—and what adaptations might stick around once the pandemic is over. —Liz Webber, senior news curator
Fun fact about sunscreen
Say it with us: You do not need a base tan. Sure, if you’re prone to burning, having a bit of extra melanin as an adaptation will protect you from some future sun exposure. But the damage to your skin from getting a base tan—especially if it’s from a tanning booth and not from everyone’s favorite star—negates that benefit. TLDR: Don’t sleep on sunscreen.
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✦ For members: Netflix needs a James Bond
This week saw the latest major entrant to the streaming wars: NBCUniversal’s Peacock. While the nascent competitor’s future remains to be seen, Netflix is already planning ahead. On a recent call with investors, co-CEO Reed Hastings said the streaming giant hopes to build the next big cinematic universe. “We’re definitely focused on creating franchises,” Hastings said.
The cross-cultural appeal of a franchise like Avengers would serve Netflix well, particularly in global markets. Already, the streaming giant competes internationally with established regional streamers like India’s Hotstar, Nigeria’s IrokoTV, South Africa’s Showmax, and China’s Tencent Video.
Burgeoning movie goals also put Netflix in even greater competition with Disney, which dominates the Hollywood franchise game. Creating the next James Bond may be exactly what Netflix needs to gain an edge on the Mouse House.
Five things from elsewhere that made us smarter
There’s a dark side to our obsession with resilience. I like the concept of resilience: After all, bad things happen to everyone, and it’s empowering to focus on how we recover. But Jonathan Patrick Leary’s recent essay for Teen Vogue helped me see how too much focus on bouncing back can keep us from asking how to prevent more suffering in the first place—and holding institutions accountable. —Sarah Todd, Quartz at Work senior reporter
A one-man army. The lack of diversity in the upper ranks of the English Premier League has been newly challenged by Michael Emenalo, the only longstanding black technical director in league history. In an interview with Donald McRae of The Guardian, Emenalo, a Nigerian ex-player with a nomadic career, explains the complexities of his journey to becoming one of the most powerful men at Chelsea—one of the world’s richest teams. —Yomi Kazeem, Quartz Africa reporter
How a great engineering company chased an impossible dream. General Electric is an American and global institution, making everything from engines and lightbulbs to scanners and turbines. My father worked there for more than 30 years. But, as Ted Mann and Thomas Gryta report in detail for the Wall Street Journal, it recently tried to become a software company, with disastrous results. —Hasit Shah, deputy editor, global finance and economics
Ben & Jerry’s roadmap for reckoning with race. For Bloomberg, Jordyn Holman and Thomas Buckley show how, in the national debate over racism in America, the popular ice cream brand has distinguished itself from the many companies who “tried to write tickets seating themselves on the right side of history.” Spoiler alert: It involves a consistent and genuine approach to activism built over years and anchored by a 20-person social justice team. Get your spoons ready! —Annabelle Timsit, geopolitics reporter
Meet the people looking for Chinese corporate scams. Even before Trump came along, the US stock market had a complicated relationship with Chinese equity listings, which were beset by a string of frauds exposed in the last decade. For Institutional Investor, Michael Rapoport profiles some of the investors, lawyers, and investigators who say swindles are ongoing, and that the US regulator hasn’t done enough to keep American investors from getting burned. —John Detrixhe, senior reporter
Quartz on the beach
If you’re lucky enough to make it to the water this weekend—or even if you’re channel surfing at home—we put together a playlist of our favorite beach bops to help make the most of the coast.
Our best wishes for a relaxing but thought-filled weekend. Please send any news, comments, protest songs, and favorite city misspellings to hi@qz.com. Get the most out of Quartz by downloading our app and becoming a member. Today’s Weekend Brief was brought to you by Jane Li, Kira Bindrim, and Max Lockie.