TikTok wants to stay friends

Hey there, it’s Jillian in Brussels. The EU is taking a softer approacher to TikTok than the US has. But first...Today’s must-reads:• Apple [View in browser]( [Bloomberg]( Hey there, it’s Jillian in Brussels. The EU is taking a softer approacher to TikTok than the US has. But first... Today’s must-reads: • [Apple plans to make more of its own chips]( • [Profit could be a problem for tech companies this year]( • [Meta’s oversight board said it’s OK to say “death to” Iran’s leader]( Got a minute? We’d love your input on Bloomberg Tech and how we can best serve you. [Please take this short survey](. The clock is ticking TikTok Chief Executive Officer Shou Zi Chew kickstarted a European charm offensive on Tuesday, where he’ll likely be greeted with less outright hostility than he’s seen in the US. The difference between the two governments’ responses is stark. US lawmakers [voted to ban the use of TikTok on government devices]( last month, and some continue to debate the prospect of blacklisting the app nationwide. Meanwhile, in Brussels, known for its hard-line against tech companies, the Chinese startup is rarely even discussed. European politicians focus largely on the US tech giants, often referred to as GAFAM, for Google, Apple Inc., Facebook, Amazon.com Inc. and Microsoft Corp. In the past few months, they’ve added Twitter Inc. to the mix. Around the time before Christmas that TikTok acknowledged, alarmingly, that some employees [accessed data on journalists]( in order to track their whereabouts, European commissions were more intent on needling Elon Musk for arbitrarily suspending reporters’ Twitter accounts. The response to the TikTok disclosure: not a peep (or a tweet). TikTok must still contend with a long list of EU regulations designed to rein in big tech, especially [upcoming content moderation rules]( and possibly competition policy, although the company doesn’t make enough money in the EU yet. So far, targeted checks on TikTok in Europe have come from individual countries. French President Emmanuel Macron accused the app of censorship and promoting online addiction in children, France’s Le Monde [reported]( last month. Commission President Ursula von der Leyen [confirmed late last year]( that there are existing probes in Ireland and the Netherland into the company’s data transfers to China and ad targeting. Italy even once stopped the app from collecting data on children whose ages they couldn’t verify, after the death of a 10-year-old who [played a deadly game promoted on the app](. “Europe has to wake up,” said Moritz Körner, a European member of parliament from Germany. As Chew prepares to meet with high-level officials in Brussels this week, observers of the EU’s process offered three explanations for why the parent company ByteDance Ltd. has avoided the spotlight so far. The first and simplest is that EU officials don’t actually use the app much. They get more fired up about what Musk is doing to Twitter because that’s where they’re actually posting. Second, politicians are worried about alienating young constituents. Taking a strict action against an app beloved by young people could prove to be very unpopular. Last, Brussels is stuck navigating a tricky relationship with Beijing. Europe’s response to China has long been fragmented and quiet by design. Even when proposing rules designed to target the country, the EU is rarely explicit about the intent. Some say Europe’s approach is far more elegant compared to the US. Others say it’s less effective. Commission officials have said they don’t want to single out a company, especially just because of which flag it operates under. Regardless, the approach to TikTok could change this year. Last month’s journalist surveillance scandal was a wakeup call for some in Brussels. The US is egging Europe on. “It is important that Brussels take swift action that will protect consumers,” Brendan Carr, a member of the US Federal Communications Commission, said in a statement. The EU’s Thierry Breton said Monday he’ll remind Chew that TikTok has to respect EU laws when he talks with the CEO later next week. Still, some are calling for Europe to go further by barring TikTok from government devices or banning the platform all together. Körner called for TikTok to be put under “special surveillance” and others want countries to step up data protection enforcement. The EU’s Margrethe Vestager has raised the issue of surveilling journalists with Chew, but didn’t go that far. The world will be closely watching to see how much the EU shifts. —[Jillian Deutsch](mailto:jdeutsch24@bloomberg.net) The big story Apple doubled its iPhone exports from India, underscoring a move from China with [geopolitical tensions on the rise](. Get fully charged An executive overseeing Apple’s services business departed, [raising questions about succession]( in an increasingly important part of the company. The US set a 2024 deadline to safeguard aircraft against 5G signals, which [operate on a close frequency to planes’ radio altimeters](. The maker of F1 Manager 2022 said sales of the video game fell below expectations, [sending the company’s shares plummeting the most on record](. Rakuten is selling more junk bonds as the Japanese e-commerce company [tries to lift its struggling mobile unit]( and repay earlier debts. 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