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I live in Vietnam, I use Android and iOS phones and I use TikTok. Recently, Trump and Pompeo want to remove TikTok from the USA. It is not a problem with me. However, they want to remove TikTok from the US store (Play Store, App Store, etc). It will mean I can't use TikTok anymore, can't install updates, etc.

How can I ask the US Government to not remove it from stores, because it affect all non-US citizens like me?

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    Short of swearing in public forums, there really isn't any legitimate way for you to influence domestic politics in another country.
    – tripleee
    Commented Aug 7, 2020 at 9:17
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    can't you just side-load the app from a playstore mirror? (that's how i run most of mine)
    – dandavis
    Commented Aug 7, 2020 at 19:03
  • How many millions of dollars do you have? Make enough donations to election campaigns, and you can have any laws you like.
    – Simon B
    Commented Mar 15, 2023 at 22:54

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As someone who does not live, vote or pay taxes in the United States, you unfortunately don't have much leverage on the US government. You could write letters to US politicians, but they don't have any reason why they should listen to you. The main responsibility of every government are first and foremost their own citizens. Not those of other countries.

The only possible way for you to achieve change in the US government would be an indirect approach through an intermediary:

  • Lobby your own government to pressure the US government through diplomatic channels.
  • Ask US citizens to lobby their government on your behalf (but please not on this website. We are a Q&A site, not a platform for political activism)
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    "The main responsibility of every government are first and foremost their own citizens." And with citizens, mostly their constituents.
    – Mast
    Commented Aug 7, 2020 at 12:46
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I'm not saying this is likely to work in this case, but demonstrations/protests in front of that country's embassy do sometimes make an impression on the government of that country, in particular when they are staged across the world. As does negative [foreign] press coverage if broad enough. The US government in particular is rather sensitive how it is seen abroad, on some issues, at least.

I'm not gonna pretend such methods of [foreign] influence work all that often though. Here, at best you could argue something like US trying to monopolize the market for itself [and its allies], because e.g. when they inconvenienced Huawei [and their phone customers] enough, it was Samsung which mostly profited, IIRC. But some would say that worked as intended.

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If the government or their advisers respect a foreign (or refugee) author, then writing them directly, or via a more well known proxy, may influence them. Perhaps the most famous effective example is the Einstein–Szilárd letter sent to FDR:

Szilárd was concerned that German scientists might also attempt this experiment. German nuclear physicist Siegfried Flügge published two influential articles on the exploitation of nuclear energy in 1939. After discussing this prospect with fellow Hungarian physicist Eugene Wigner, they decided that they should warn the Belgians, as the Belgian Congo was the best source of uranium ore. Wigner suggested that Albert Einstein might be a suitable person to do this, as he knew the Belgian Royal Family.

On July 12, 1939, Szilárd and Wigner drove in Wigner's car to Cutchogue on New York's Long Island, where Einstein was staying. When they explained about the possibility of atomic bombs, Einstein replied: Daran habe ich gar nicht gedacht (I did not even think about that). Szilárd dictated a letter in German to the Belgian Ambassador to the United States. Wigner wrote it down, and Einstein signed it. At Wigner's suggestion, they also prepared a letter for the State Department explaining what they were doing and why, giving it two weeks to respond if it had any objections.

This still left the problem of getting government support for uranium research. Another friend of Szilárd's, the Austrian economist Gustav Stolper, suggested approaching Alexander Sachs, who had access to President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Sachs told Szilárd that he had already spoken to the President about uranium, but that Fermi and Pegram had reported that the prospects for building an atomic bomb were remote. He told Szilárd that he would deliver the letter, but suggested that it come from someone more prestigious. For Szilárd, Einstein was again the obvious choice. Sachs and Szilárd drafted a letter riddled with spelling errors and mailed it to Einstein.

Szilárd also set out himself for Long Island again on August 2. Wigner was unavailable, so this time Szilárd co-opted another Hungarian physicist, Edward Teller, to do the driving. After receiving the draft, Einstein dictated the letter first in German. On returning to Columbia University, Szilárd dictated the letter in English to a young departmental stenographer, Janet Coatesworth. She later recalled that when Szilárd mentioned extremely powerful bombs, she "was sure she was working for a nut". Ending the letter with "Yours truly, Albert Einstein" did nothing to alter this impression. Both the English letter and a longer explanatory letter were then posted to Einstein for him to sign.


Most US politicians are also very interested in anyone, foreigners included, who by some means or another is able to offer their campaign, (or they themselves if corrupt), a sufficient sum of money, or offered something that their campaign would otherwise have to buy, such as the advertising provided by a foreign controlled Super-PAC.


Similarly, most US politicians dread scandal, and will listen to a foreign influence with evidence of a scandal against them, or a rival.


Foreigners can also use the domestic press to influence the public, obviously a foreigner or owns or controls a local publisher commands respect, but a foreign author with a domestic following can influence the electorate, who themselves may effect policy as well.

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  • Good historical example. Commented Mar 15, 2023 at 8:32
  • "Most US politicians are also very interested in anyone, foreigners included, who by some means or another is able to offer their campaign, (or they themselves if corrupt), a sufficient sum of money, or offered something that their campaign would otherwise have to buy, such as the advertising provided by a foreign controlled Super-PAC": it is illegal for foreigners to donate to federal political campaigns.
    – phoog
    Commented Mar 16, 2023 at 3:19
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You're not a US citizen so the laws made in the US shouldn't be your problem... at least in theory.

However you can look at this issue from your perspective as a consumer: Google and Apple are multinational companies which distribute their products all over the world:

  • You could consider lobbying these companies to keep TikTok available on their platform for non-US consumers. There is no technical obstacle for a company to do that, and probably no legal obstacle either (but IANAL): they can set up location filters and if needed locate some of their cloud storage outside the US.
  • If these companies don't want to do it (for instance because the US government would retaliate in another way against them), then you could consider boycotting these companies and encourage other consumers to boycott them.
  • This could eventually lead to new companies appearing to fill the gap. That's how competition is supposed to work in a free market... at least in theory!

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