For more than six years, Amazon Web Services, the world's largest cloud computing company, offered technical support to deliver Tiktok videos to tens of millions of Americans.
But this weekend Amazon stood for a dilemma. There was a new law in force that forbade Tiktok, owned by the Chinese company bytedance, in the United States. Technology companies were not allowed to distribute and update them, otherwise they would receive financial fines. At the same time, the newly chosen President Donald J. Trump told technology companies that he intended to interrupt the enforcement of the law with an executive order.
Only a few hours before the prohibition came into force, Amazon seemed to adhere to the law, according to a review in the New York Times about the way in which the web traffic of Tiktok is handled. Instead, Akamai Technologies, a company in Massachusetts that already helped with supplying Tiktok videos on telephones, adopted a larger part of the technical support.
The change, which was picked up by digital forensic research of The Times, was one of the small maneuvers behind the scenes who showed how technology companies vary in their approach to the Tiktok ban.
Apple and Google also chose to follow the law. They quickly removed Tiktok and other bytedance apps from their app stores. But Oracle, another technology giant, was still processing and offering Tiktok user data. Akamai and Fastly, which accelerate the processing times for tap videos, still did this.
The Schisma emphasizes the dilemma that the Tiktok ban has imposed the risk of major American technology companies: running the risk of alienating a whimsical president who has made his support for Tiktok into an extremely public part of his inaugural policy-making, or the risk of federal law Response and risk billions of dollars in fines. . Various legal experts said it is unclear whether the executive order of Trump protects companies against fines or possible lawsuits.
“On the one hand you have an enormous theoretical liability of up to 850 billion dollars and on the other hand you have the potential benefits of meeting the wishes of Trump and in his good favor,” says Neil Suri, an analyst at Capstone . Policy research agency.
The technology companies have differently estimated that risk. Apple did not believe that Mr Trump's executive order would be sufficient to put their responsibility aside, according to two people who talked to Apple representatives about their plans, but had no permission to speak in public. Google came to a similar decision, said one of these people, who also spoke with his representatives, and a person who was familiar with the way of thinking of the company.
Oracle and others hesitated to break the law under the Bides government, said two people who were involved in their work this weekend and had no permission to speak in public-an important reason why the app stopped half a day this weekend work. When the ban came into force.
But they believed that the promise of an executive command of Mr Trump brought new power, which encouraged them to help the app to restart the activities in the United States, the people said.
Amazon, Fastly and Tiktok did not respond to requests to comment. Google, Apple, Oracle and Akamai refused to comment.
The different reactions seem to be inspired by money, politics and fear.
Apple and Google were closely monitored in the weeks prior to the Tiktok ban. They check the software on which millions of American smartphones run.
They also have a financial interest in the app because they benefit from the use by Tiktok from their in-app payments. Last year, Apple earned $ 354 million in reimbursements via Tiktok, while Google brought in $ 63 million, according to AppFigures, a market research agency that focuses on the app industry. This mainly happened via digital coins on Tiktok that users can buy and give as a gift to makers who like them, according to the company.
But the removal of the app would be in accordance with the views that Apple and Google had taken all over the world in the past to follow the laws of the countries where they are active.
And it was likely that Tiktok could survive for a few months without their support. Over the years, Tiktok has moved a large part of the operation of the app to servers, mainly managed by Oracle, so that it is less dependent on smartphone software, says Ariel Michaeli, the founder of App figures. He said it also updated the app in the days before the prohibition and delivered the latest version at the last possible moment.
Oracle and Akamai both told investors that they will lose considerable turnover and profit if they stop hosting and distributing Tiktok content.
They also play a crucial role in guaranteeing that the tap app is operational. If they stop working with Tiktok, the app would not function and there would be indignation. A large part of the internet exploded on Saturday and Sunday when Tiktok dropped out.
Oracle also has a unique close relationship with Mr. Trump and with Tiktok. Larry Ellison, the founder and chief technology officer of the company, joined Mr Trump on Tuesday for an announcement about a new initiative for artificial intelligence worth 100 billion dollars. During the event, Mr. Trump said that Elon Musk or Oracle could buy Tiktok and he emphasized his “right to close a deal.”
Oracle also works with Tiktok to store sensitive American user data and has been in conversation with Tiktok to help assess the video recommendations of the company in the United States as part of a broader security plan.
The role of Amazon was small but important. It hosted a crucial piece of data, a so-called domain name service record, which leads hundreds of millions of web browsers and smartphone apps to Tiktok-Servers.
But the consequences of ignoring the law, which was adopted in the congress with broad support from both parties and was unanimously confirmed by the Supreme Court, could be painful. Oracle and other companies could open themselves to new liability by trusting the executive order, say legal experts. Mr. Trump could change his mind or selectively maintain the law against companies that fall out of grace, and a future government could later impose financial sanctions within the timeline of the law, they say.
Senator Tom Cotton, Republican van Arkansas and chairman of the intelligence committee of the Senate, called some major technology companies last week to say that they had to meet the law. He said on X that they could be confronted with 'hundreds of billions of dollars in ruinous liability according to the law', not only from the federal government, but also if the attorneys-general take action to enforce the law, or as shareholders Ensuring a lawsuit because of the decision to violate the law.
Senator John Thune, Republican of South Dakota and leader of the majority, said this week that “the law is the law” and that “which will eventually have to be followed.”
A group of Tiktok users or social media companies such as Meta or Snap can also contract lawsuits to challenge the executive order. Users could argue that the US government did not protect their data sufficiently by not enforcing the status, Capstone analysts wrote and said that this was the most likely type of lawsuit.
“Oracle makes the calculation that the chance that they will be held liable is quite minimal,” said Mr. Suri of Capstone. “It is clear that Apple and Google did not make that calculation. That is a matter of seeing the risk reward differently. “
David McCabe And Nico Grant reporting contributed.
