How Qatar ended up hosting the World Cup | CNN

CNN —

With the World Cup now underway in Qatar, many are wondering how this moment arrived – that a tiny Gulf nation with little footballing history ended up hosting the biggest event the sport has to offer.

Qatar had never previously appeared at a World Cup tournament – let alone staged one – and became the first host nation to lose the opening game of the tournament with a 2-0 defeat against Ecuador on Sunday.

The country’s World Cup debut was 12 years in the making, a period in which Qatar’s host status has stirred controversy within the footballing community and beyond.

‘New lands’

When Qatar was named as host of the 2022 World Cup back in 2010, it was selected ahead of bids from the United States, South Korea, Japan and Australia.

During the bidding process, it faced several obstacles as FIFA, football’s governing body, flagged concerns in technical reports. Those included a lack of existing infrastructure and the region’s intense heat in the summer, when World Cup tournaments are traditionally held.

Indeed, the reports even went as far as to label Qatar’s bid as “high risk,” but the country nevertheless triumphed with 14 votes to USA’s eight in the final round of balloting.

At the time, Qatar promised to make the world “proud of the Middle East” as the first country from the region to host the tournament, while then-FIFA President Sepp Blatter welcomed the prospect of football’s showpiece event going to “new lands.”

“I’m a happy president when we speak of the development of football,” he said.

Twelve years later, Blatter is more critical.

Earlier this month, he told Swiss newspaper Tages Anzeiger: “Qatar is a mistake … the choice was bad.

“It is too small of a country. Football and the World Cup are too big for it.”

Blatter said FIFA amended the criteria it used to select host countries in 2012 in light of concerns over the working conditions at tournament-related construction sites in Qatar.

“Since then, social considerations and human rights are taken into account,” he said.

With a population of three million, smaller than that of Connecticut, Qatar has invested billions in its football infrastructure in preparation for the 2022 tournament.

But questions about just how Qatar won the right to stage the World Cup continue.

As recently as March 2020, the US Department of Justice alleged that bribes were accepted by top officials as part of the voting process to elect Russia and Qatar as the tournament host for the 2018 and 2022 events – claims Russian officials denied and Qatari officials called “false” in a statement to CNN.

The DOJ has been investigating allegations of corruption in international soccer, including FIFA, for years. To date, there have been more than two dozen convictions and some cases are ongoing.

A statement from FIFA in April 2020 said it “supports all investigations into alleged acts of criminal wrongdoing regarding either domestic or international football competitions and will continue to provide full cooperation to law enforcement officials investigating such matters.

“FIFA is closely following these investigations and all related developments in the legal processes ongoing in the United States and other parts of the world.

“It is important to point out that FIFA has itself been accorded victim status in the US criminal proceedings and senior FIFA officials are in regular contact with the US Department of Justice.”

FIFA was handed victim status by US prosecutors as they viewed football’s world governing body as having been almost hijacked by a number of corrupt individuals.

Human rights criticism

Qatar’s human rights record has also been in the spotlight ahead of the World Cup, particularly around the welfare of migrant workers.

Given the minimal infrastructure Qatar had in place at the time it was awarded the hosting rights to the World Cup, seven new stadiums have been erected ahead of the tournament, as well as new hotels and expansions to the country’s airport, rail networks and highways.

That has placed a reliance on Qatar’s migrant workers, who account for 90% of the total workforce, according to Amnesty International.

Since 2010, many migrant workers have respectively faced delayed or unpaid wages, forced labor, long hours in hot weather, employer intimidation, and an inability to leave their jobs because of the country’s sponsorship system, human rights organizations have found.

Video Ad Feedback FIFA president launches explosive tirade against Western critics of Qatar 02:19 - Source: CNN

However, Qatar’s Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy (SC) said the health, safety and dignity of “all workers employed on our projects has remained steadfast,” with “significant improvements” made around workers’ rights.

FIFA president Gianni Infantino also told CNN Sport’s Amanda Davies that he has seen “great evolution” in Qatar’s labor reforms, and the International Labor Organization has noted reformes like a non-discriminatory minimum wage that Qatar is the first in the region to adopt.

Meanwhile, Qatar’s state-backed discrimination against LGBTQ people has also been criticized in the years leading up to the World Cup.

Sex between men is illegal and punishable by up to three years in prison in the country, and a report from Human Rights Watch, published last month, documented cases as recently as September of Qatari security forces arbitrarily arresting LGBT people and subjecting them to “ill-treatment in detention.”

A statement sent to CNN on behalf of the SC said it was committed to “an inclusive and discriminatory-free” World Cup, pointing to the fact that the country had, it said, hosted hundreds of international and regional sporting events since being awarded the World Cup in 2010.

“There has never been an issue and every event has been delivered safely,” the statement read.

“Everyone is welcome in Qatar, but we are a conservative country and any public display of affection, regardless of orientation, is frowned upon. We simply ask for people to respect our culture.”

Perhaps the most obvious sign that this World Cup is different to most has been the decision to stage it in November and December, rather than June and July as is the norm.

Sweltering heat during the summer months in Qatar has necessitated the switch, although temperatures are still forecasted to rise above 30 degrees Celsius (86 degrees Fahrenheit) later this week.

Other changes to the organization of the tournament have been rather more last-minute.

On Friday, FIFA announced that no alcohol would be sold at the stadiums, and then on Monday, captains from seven countries were warned they would receive yellow cards if they wore armbands promoting inclusion and opposing discrimination.

FIFA announced earlier on Monday that it had brought forward its “No Discrimination” campaign – which also has a designated armband – adding that “all 32 captains will have the opportunity to wear this armband” during the World Cup.

FIFA’s equipment regulations state that “for FIFA final competitions, the captain of each team must wear the captain’s armband provided by FIFA.”

Time will tell what the legacy of this World Cup will be, but if the past few days, months, and years are anything to go by, it is likely to be complicated and controversial.

Delaware District 3 Little League tournaments underway

Gray Hughes, rghughes@dmg.gannett.com

The Delaware District 3 Little League All-Star tournaments are currently underway and so far there are already three winners.

Millsboro Senior League All Star Team, the Milton 9-10 All Star Team and the Nanticoke Major All Star team have all emerged victorious in the tournament thus far.

Nanticoke Major Softball All Stars win the district

The Nanticoke Major Softball team began its quest for district supremacy on June 27 where it played its first game against Laurel. Nanticoke emerged as the 6-0 victor.

As winner, Nanticoke had an off day before its game with Lower Sussex. The girls from Nanticoke once again emerged victorious, winning 6-0 once again and earning them the right to play in the district championship game.

Nanticoke faced Millsboro, who had beaten the team from Lower Sussex to earn the right to play in the championship game.

In the seventh day of the tournament, and Nanticoke's fourth game, Nanticoke emerged victorious, defeating Millsboro 10-0.

Nanticoke had a very successful tournament. Nanticoke did not allow a single run throughout the tournament and scored 36 runs in four games.

Sussex Tech's Lux signs with Delaware Tech baseball

Millsboro Senior League All Stars team wins Senior League tournament

The Millsboro team for children from age 13 to 16 won its first game against the Woodbridge Senior League All Star Team 6-4 to play the Lower Sussex team. Millsboro was able to defeat them by a score of 11-3.

Millsboro then had to play its eventual finals matchup, Cape/Georgetown for the first time on June 28. Millsboro once again had no difficulty dispatching its opponent, emerging victorious with a final score of 7-0.

Millsboro then received a welcomed day off as it waited to see who would emerge victorious from the Nanticoke-Cape/Georgetown game. Cape/Georgetown won that matchup to earn the right to play Milton once again in the final.

The final, which was Millsboro’s fourth game of the seven-day tournament, saw Millsboro emerge victorious for the second time over the Cape/Georgetown team, with Millsboro scoring 11 and Cape/Georgetown only scoring two.

The tournament was a success for the Millsboro team on both offense and defense. Millsboro scored 35 runs in four games while only surrendering nine runs over the same span.

Milton 9-10 All Stars win tournament

The team from Milton started off its tournament with a 10-3 victory over Nanticoke, then played Georgetown, which had beaten the team from Lower Sussex the day before.

Milton won 8-4, setting up a matchup with the team Milton would eventually face in the finals: Lewes/Rehoboth.

Milton had a day of rest between the two games, which according to coach Paris Mitchell was used to rest tired pitchers. The break seemed to help, as Milton won 10-1, sending Lewes/Rehoboth to the loser’s bracket.

In order to get to the title game, Lewes/Rehoboth beat the Nanticoke team 14-13, thus setting up the rematch between Lewes/Rehoboth and Milton.

In the game played at 7 p.m. on July 1, Milton won 11-9.

Next District 3 baseball tournaments

Junior: Begins July 9

Major: Begins July 15

Next District 3 softball tournaments

9-10: Begins July 9

Junior: Currently underway with the title game scheduled for July 9

Senior: Begins July 19

Northampton's Webb on track to be a Yankee

In Focus: On the Shore no more

2020 World Series of Poker Main Event begins with major changes

It would be difficult to identify a major competition as poorly suited to pandemic conditions as the World Series of Poker Main Event.

In a typical year, you’re talking about 7,000 people packed into a convention center hall, sitting nearly elbow-to-elbow, passing chips and cards back and forth, playing for hours and hours every day for nearly two weeks until somebody finally wins a life-changing amount of money.

“I think we came to realize almost immediately in mid-March that live poker tournaments, which are a definition of social gathering, were going to be challenge,” said Ty Stewart, the World Series of Poker’s executive director.

But a year without crowning a Main Event champion was almost unthinkable. Beyond being the biggest prize in poker, it’s an event that penetrates mainstream American culture whether it’s Matt Damon’s character in the 1998 movie "Rounders" thinking about going heads-up with Johnny Chan or an accountant named Chris Moneymaker showing up in 2003 and beating all the pros on ESPN to win $2.5 million.

Since then, people have come to Las Vegas every summer from all over the world, willing to put up $10,000 for their shot in the only kind of competition where poker pros, folks who play a weekly neighborhood game or celebrities like Tobey Maguire and Michael Phelps start off with the same chance to win.

“I look at this like, hey, the NBA found a way to have a championship, the NFL found a way to have a season. Even college football eventually came around,” Phil Hellmuth, a former Main Event champion and winner of a record 15 WSOP bracelets, said in a phone interview this week. “So I’d hate to see a World Series board where there was no champion in 2020.”

With some major modifications to the format, a champion will be crowned this year after all. Beginning Sunday, the WSOP has built a hybrid model for the tournament where players will play online for a projected two days until the field has been whittled down to nine for the final table. At that point, the remaining players will gather at the Rio on Dec. 28, go through a COVID-19 testing process and play in person in a bubble-type environment until there’s just one left.

The same process is already underway in Europe, where the online stage is over and the final table will begin on Tuesday in the Czech Republic. The two winners will then play heads-up in Las Vegas on Dec. 30 for the title of world champion and an extra $1 million.

The reaction to the format, Stewart said, was “initially mixed but now it’s turning toward positive” because the big-name players ultimately understand how important it is for the growth of the sport to remain in the public view. And like past years, ESPN will cover the tournament with a heavy emphasis on the final table and the heads-up championship match while also showing some key hands from the online portion in something of an e-sports format.

“We felt like it’s our responsibility to not have an asterisk in 2020 into the history of the World Series of Poker,” Stewart said. “I think people understand that and players applaud the fact we're in this for the long haul and we’re trying to provide opportunities and interest in the game and the Main Event is really the only event that creates national interest and international interest.”

It won’t be clear until the tournament begins how many players actually signed up this year. Stewart said there were 674 entries on the international side. Most likely, it will be a fraction of the 8,569 who played last year.

Part of the reason for that is, in order to play the Main Event this year, you have to be physically located in New Jersey or Nevada due to state regulations of online gaming. The digital platform, Stewart said, is equipped with geotracking software that ensures players are logged onto a phone or computer within those state borders.

"We expect some players may be sitting in parking lots or hotels or their home for the first time, and that makes it a very unique Main Event,” he said.

It also changes the nature of the competition. For someone like Hellmuth, who has career earnings of more than $15 million in WSOP tournaments alone, experience in being able to read opponents can be a pretty big advantage in the late stages of a long event. He said before 2020, he hadn’t played online poker in five years but has developed a better sense in recent months of picking up tells on the timing of when opponents raise or push all-in.

"I think that it’s still a lot of the same principles apply, but I like it when there’s 50, 60 players left in a tournament and people are getting nervous and they're tired,” he said. “It's the end of a day and hopefully I can see what they’re doing more clearly whereas online there’s a little bit more cloak. They can cloak their face, cloak their nervousness.”

In some ways, it’s kind of a full-circle moment for poker, which has always had to evolve to grow. At the first WSOP in 1970, where Jack Binion invited seven of the top players to the Horseshoe casino, the winner was determined by a player vote after a series of cash games. It wasn’t until 1982 that the Main Event topped 100 entrants. The first million dollar prize was 1991, and the first time television viewers saw the cards via the “pocket cam” was 2002.

Moneymaker’s win sparked a boom of interest in the game worldwide, making it more accessible to people who weren’t professional gamblers and launching innovations (followed by regulations) in how people could play online for money.

Now, because of COVID-19, we’ll have a World Series champion where the bulk of the tournament was played virtually.

“What we’re doing is just completing (our seasons) like the other sports leagues and I think it’s going to be a legitimate champion,” Hellmuth said. “You look at what happened in the NBA, they had their tournament in a bubble and it was kind of like what was happening in the rest of the world. Now we have our tournament with two days of online poker and more people are spending more time online during the pandemic. So I love it and I think it’s good for poker.”

Big 12 Baseball Scores, Schedule from Globe Life Field in Arlington

The Big 12 baseball tournament is underway on day three at Globe Life Field in Arlington.

Refresh this page for updates and summaries from each game.

BIG 12 TOURNAMENT

at Globe Life Field, Arlington

Seeds, records in parentheses

Wednesday's First-Round Games

More:Big 12 baseball tournament: Oklahoma State Cowboys vs. Texas Longhorns score, live updates

Texas 4, Oklahoma State 0

ARLINGTON — Douglas Hodo III earned his opportunity Wednesday.

The Texas centerfielder dropped a bunt down — which thanks to an errant throw from Oklahoma State starting pitcher Victor Mederos — allowed him to reach first base, and advance to second while also plate Trey Faltine for the first run of the contest in the top of the sixth inning against Oklahoma State.

The fifth-seeded Longhorns used that as a spark toward a 4-0 victory over the No. 4 seed Cowboys in the first game of the Phillips 66 Big 12 Tournament held at Globe Life Field.

In the next frame, Austin Todd provided an insurance run by smacking a solo home run into the left-field seats, before Faltine added another by hitting an RBI single up the middle to give the Longhorns a 3-0 advantage after the top half of the seventh.

Silas Ardoin notched a solo home run in the top of the ninth toward the final scoring margin.

TCU 4, Baylor 2

ARLINGTON — Kurtis Byrne hit an RBI single, as part of a two-run eight inning rally, to propel first-seeded TCU to a 4-2 victory over Baylor in the second game of the Big 12 tournament.

Kyle Nevin hit an RBI triple in the top of the first to provide the first run for the Bears, who were taking on first-seeded TCU in the Big 12 tournament.

Texas Tech 5, Kansas State 3

ARLINGTON — After a Kurt Wilson double and Hudson White two-out single, Wilson scored on an errant pickoff throw to first and White scored on a wild throw home from first in the second inning.

Parker Kelly singled, stole second and scored on an errant throw from the catcher to second base.

Dillon Carter hit a two-RBI triple to increase the scoring margin in the bottom of the sixth inning.

Kansas State cut into the lead thanks to an RBI single from Cole Johnson and two-RBI double from Kaelen Culpepper in the top of the seventh.

More:Eye on the prize: More than usual, Tech needs strong showing at Big 12 tournament

Oklahoma 6, West Virginia 4

ARLINGTON — The Sooners plated five runs in the second and took control of the contest early against the Mountaineers.

Peyton Graham highlighted the second inning by smacking a ball off the centerfield batter's eye for a grand slam to provide OU with a 5-0 advantage.

Tanner Tredaway added another run following an RBI single to centerfield in the fourth.

WVU ended its scoreless streak thanks to a wild pitch, which allowed J.J Wetherholt to cross home plate in the eighth inning.

Grant Hussey hit a solo home run into the right-field seats while Wetherholt hit a two-run homer for the final scoring margin.

Big 12 baseball tournament: Texas Tech, other teams at a glance

Thursday's Games

Elimination bracket semifinals

Oklahoma State 11, Baylor 1 (7 inn.)

Kansas State 8, West Virginia 5

Winners' bracket finals

Texas 5, TCU 3

Oklahoma 6, Texas Tech 3

More:Texas Tech's Brandon Birdsell, Hudson White earn Big 12 baseball awards

Friday's Games

Elimination bracket finals

Oklahoma State 8, TCU 4

K-State 6, Texas Tech 5 (11 inn.)

Saturday's Games

Top bracket final

Oklahoma State 8, Texas 1

Texas 9, Oklahoma State 2; Oklahoma State eliminated

Bottom bracket final

Oklahoma 4, Kansas State 3; Kansas State eliminated

Sunday's Championship

Oklahoma 8, Texas 1

Phillips 66 Big 12 Baseball Updates

Memorial Tournament map as PGA tour event is underway

The 2022 Memorial Tournament has begun at Muirfield Village as the field that includes seven of the top 10 golfers in the world try to unseat defending champion Patrick Cantlay.

But it's golf, so rarely do you play other golfers but instead play the golf course. And the golf course at Muirfield Village has been a pesky opponent since 1976.

Memorial Tournament leaderboard updates:Follow live first-round PGA coverage of the 2022 Memorial Tournament

Memorial Tournament weather:Will Jack Nicklaus' Memorial Tournament weather be hit by the curse of Chief Leatherlips?

Jack Nicklauson gambling, Saudis, lawsuit, Justin Thomas, young PGA stars and more

Jack Nicklaus designed the course and some of the names to master Muirfield Village include Tiger Woods, Tom Watson and even Nicklaus himself.

Woods has won five times (1999-2001, 2009 and 2012). Kenny Perry won three times (1991, 2003 and 2008). Nicklaus won twice in 1977 and 1984. Cantlay has won twice (2019 and 2021). Watson, Hale Irwin and Greg Norman are also two-time winners.

So what does the course look like? Here's map.

Memorial Tournament 2022 course map

Here's the course map:

Memorial golf tournament course by hole, par at Muirfield Village

Hole 1: Par 4

Hole 2: Par 4

Hole 3: Par 4

Hole 4: Par 3

Hole 5: Par 5

Hole 6: Par 4

Hole 7: Par 5

Hole 8: Par 3

Hole 9: Par 4

Hole 10: Par 4

Hole 11: Par 5

Hele 12: Par 3

Hole 13: Par 4

Hole 14: Par 4

Hole 15: Par 5

Hole 16: Par 3

Hole 17: Par 4

Hole 18: Par 4

How to watch the Memorial golf tournament

TV: Thursday (2-6 p.m., Golf Channel); Friday (2-6 p.m., Golf Channel), Saturday (12:30-2:30 p.m., Golf Channel; 2:30-6 p.m., CBS, Ch. 10); Sunday (12:30-2:30 p.m., Golf Channel; 2:30-6 p.m., CBS, Ch. 10).

How to stream Memorial Tournament

The Memorial Tournament can be streamed a variety of ways. Paramount+ will have have the CBS live stream on Saturday and Sunday. CBS is also streaming on several providers, like Hulu Live.

Streaming providers like Hulu Live, Sling and YouTube TV offer the Golf Channel, which is airing all the rounds.

Fishing tournament pays off big

Jim Freda

Special to The Record

The 2017 MidAtlantic Tournament ended last Friday in Cape May and Sunset Marina in Ocean City, Md. Tournament Director Aaron Hoffman said, “It was a week that not only saw a total eclipse of the sun but also saw a total cash purse eclipse the previous MidAtlantic Tournament record payout."

It was also the first time in the tournament’s 26-year history where a participant won two of the event’s major categories. There was a tournament record $3.24 million awarded to all the lucky winners, including well over $1 million alone to one lucky crew. Larry Hesse of Fort Lauderdale and his crew of the Brielle, Goin’ In Deep including Capt. Walter Harmstead of Manasquan and Hesse’s son Larry Jr were the big winners at this year’s event as they doubled up and nabbed the blue marlin and tuna categories top prizes thanks to the 680 lb blue marlin and 184-pound tuna weighed on day four of the tournament and walked away with $1,110,634.

On the last day of the tournament, shortly after the evening’s weigh-in session got underway, Scott Poole’s Waste Knot from Morehead, NC with Capt. Patrick Kannan at the wheel pulled to the scale in Ocean City and weighed a white marlin of 75 pounds for angler Kyle Mayer. Poole and his crew of the Waste Knot were among those eyeing the scale as minutes later Captain JJ Logan wheeled Rich Van Camps Reel Rodeo from Fort Lauderdale into the marina with an upright white marlin flag flying indicating they had a boated billfish aboard.

Moments later, angler Andrew Kennedy’s billfish would weigh 71 pounds and Reel Rodeo would finish with the third heaviest white marlin for the tournament and won $73,602. Poole and his crew aboard the Waste Knot let out a sigh of relief as their heaviest white marlin gave the crew $796,509. Ken Hager’s Taylor Jean from Tinton Falls with Capt Jay Monteverdi of Brielle held on to take home the second heaviest white marlin prize and a check for $217,665 for his 72 -pound billfish.

Though several tuna were weighed on day five, none were able to make the leaderboard much less top Goin’ In Deep’s 184-pound Allison yellowfin. Denny Howell’s Big Dog hung on to take the second heaviest in the category and won $80,088, while Pat Healy’s New Gretna based Viking 62 and Brick, NJ’s Mike Murray aboard his Caitlin finished in a tie for third heaviest tuna at 72 pounds and won $164,837 and $116,929 respectively.

The Manasquan River Marlin and Tuna Club 37th Annual Offshore Open is currently underway and will run through Sept. 3. Unfortunately, the wind has not cooperated at all this week with strong east-northeast winds. The next few days look better. As of this writing the boat Paddywhack has weighed in the largest tuna a 72.75-pound yellowfin worth $13,800.00. The tournament info can be found at www.MRMTC.com/offshoreopen.

False albacore have inundated our waters from 5-15 miles out and will soon move in along the beach. The September albies that we see along the beach usually range in size from 3-8 pounds. These pelagic speedsters fall into the family Scombridae, also commonly referred to as the mackerels. Therefore their meat does not make for good table fare. People will eat them however and you can find tons of recipes on the internet on how to cook them if you goggle it. Probably one of the best lures to catch them if you are casting to them is the Deadly Dick lure. The #3-4 long and # 1 long are the sizes to get.

Capt. Rob of the Sea Hunter out of Atlantic Highlands www.seahunter.info reports, “We had some descent trips early in the week in the bay. That started to slow up so we hit the ocean channels and they are finally holding some fish in our range for the half day trips. Unfortunately, we had a few days of hard east/northeast winds that kept us out of the ocean. Next Tuesday is the last day of the fluke season. We are sailing for fluke twice daily with two trips 8 a.m.-12:30 p.m. and 1:30 p.m.-6 p.m., seven days a week, Capt. Rob.”

Best Bet: Yellowfin tuna are present 40 miles outside the Manasquan Inlet. False albacore, bluefish, bonito and mackerel are being caught 10-15 miles out. Striped bass are present in the rivers and bays at night feeding on spearing, peanut bunker, and mullet. Fluke fishing is good but ends Sept. 5.

Hot Baits: Bucktailing is still one of the most productive methods for catching fluke. Use a teaser above a bucktail tipped with 4 or 5 inch Gulp swimming mullet in any color.

Hot Spots: Expect false albacore to show up in good numbers from 1-10 miles off the beach in the next two weeks. They will concentrate on the inshore lumps and ridges.

Announcements of Interest: Now through Sept. 3, Manasquan River Marlin and Tuna Club 37th Annual Offshore Open, more info email offshoreopen@mrmtc.com. Sept. 5, fluke season closes. Sept. 9, 55th Annual H.W. Shaner Tournament an Association of Surf Angling Clubs, open to teams and individuals, Avalon, contact Lynda Greaves, 609-214-0939 or lgreaves68@comcast.net.

Tip of the Week: False albacore can be caught several at a time by trolling small purple and black feathers or #2 Clark spoons pulled behind 6 oz drails at 6.0-6.8 knots.

Ecuador dampens Qatar's party as controversial World Cup gets ...

Al Khor, Qatar CNN —

For the past year, a giant clock in Doha has been counting down to the opening match of the World Cup. Qatar and the world need wait no more, after this controversial tournament got underway Sunday with the host losing 2-0 to Ecuador.

After a spectacular opening ceremony, which starred the likes of Hollywood actor Morgan Freeman and BTS star Jung Kook, the sport itself finally took center stage after being overshadowed by off-the-pitch matters during the build-up.

It wasn’t the result that many in Qatar would have hoped for. The host looked nervous and struggled against an opposition possessing experience and quality. In truth, the game was all but over at halftime, with Ecuador comfortably 2-0 up thanks to two goals by Enner Valencia.

All the excitement pre-match slowly drained away from the stadium in the second half and there were noticeably more empty seats as some fans seemed to have had enough.

Empty seats are seen during the match. Dylan Martinez/Reuters

Festival atmosphere

The nearer we got to Sunday’s kickoff in Doha, the more excited fans in this city became. A magnificent firework display lit up the sky on Saturday night and social media exploded with Qataris making their enthusiasm known about hosting one of sport’s biggest events.

Over the last few days, fans from around the world have gathered in squares in downtown Doha to sing, chant and wave their national flags, creating a fantastic atmosphere.

That festival spirit continued on match day, from the city center to the newly-built Al Bayt Stadium, which hosted the opening match of this historic World Cup, the first to be held in the Middle East.

People watch as fireworks go off before the start of the World Cup at the Al Bayt Stadium. Aijaz Rahi/AP

At times, it has felt like any other major international tournament, but the build-up to this event has, of course, been unlike any other.

Corruption scandals plagued FIFA, world football’s governing body, after it awarded Qatar the tournament in 2010 – though Qatari officials have previously “strongly denied” to CNN the allegations of bribery which has surrounded its bid.

For over a decade, and increasingly so as kickoff neared, the pre-tournament build-up has focused on the country’s human rights record, from the death of migrant workers and the conditions many have endured in Qatar, as well as its LGBTQ laws and the role of women in its society. The country’s last-minute ban of alcohol in World Cup stadiums also made headlines around the world.

FIFA President Gianni Infantino’s remarkable press conference on the eve of the opening game demonstrated just how little on-field issues have featured so far.

The FIFA boss addressed hundreds of journalists in Doha, Saturday, and started the news conference with a near hour-long speech, during which he accused Western critics of hypocrisy and racism.

Those involved in the tournament have faced much criticism. Colombian singer Maluma, who features in the official World Cup anthem, walked out of an interview on Israeli television when he was questioned about the Gulf state’s human rights record.

The opening ceremony itself focused heavily on unity, with performances giving a nod to all the countries playing in this year’s tournament.

VAR comes into play

While the pre-match attention was inevitably on the host nation, Qatar’s opponents also had a story to tell as its place in the tournament was only confirmed weeks ago after it was involved in a legal dispute with rivals Chile.

It centered around the eligibility of Bryon Castillo who, rivals argued, was ineligible to represent Ecuador over claims he was born in Colombia. The case was referred to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, who deemed Castillo eligible but, despite this, he was not included in his nation’s World Cup squad for Qatar 2022. On Sunday’s showing, it doesn’t look like the team miss Castillo.

Valencia scores past Qatar's goalkeeper Saad Al Sheeb for Ecuador's opening goal. Ariel Schalit/AP

Minutes after the game started, the noisy Ecuadorian fans were celebrating after it appeared their side had taken the lead. Valencia headed in from close range but the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) deemed Valencia was offside and disallowed the goal.

But just minutes later, the yellow shirts were celebrating again as Valencia put his side ahead from the penalty spot. Goalkeeper Saad Al Sheeb had fouled the forward as he attempted to skip beyond him.

The captain doubled his tally before the first half finished, directing a bullet header into the bottom corner as Qatar looked short of confidence and belief.

Now that the action is underway, organizers will hope attention will move away from human rights and other off-field issues. But, in truth, this tournament’s legacy will not be determined on the pitch. Instead, it will be decided by real change and the improvement of the lives of the people who helped make it happen.

2022 Winter Olympics: Curling at the Ice Cube kicks off Beijing Games

BEIJING — In 2008, as the Water Cube, it was where U.S. swimmer Michael Phelps won a record eight gold medals.

And Wednesday, as the Ice Cube, it's where the 2022 Winter Olympics officially began.

A full 48 hours before the opening ceremony, curlers from eight countries – including the United States – kicked off the mixed doubles competition at the National Aquatics Center, in what was the first sporting event of the Beijing Games.

The American team of Vicky Persinger and Chris Plys faced Australia in their first round-robin game, squeaking out a 6-5 win. And the opportunity to lead off Olympic competition was just as exciting.

"It's kind of nice to be the first, to get the party started," said Persinger, 29. "We've been here for several days, and we weren't able to get on the ice until today, actually. So just being out there, and getting to take our masks off and throwing those first few rocks in the game, it made me feel a lot more comfortable. Just kind of the joy of like, this is why we came here."

Plys said that, due in part to travel, it had been about a week and a half since they had been able to practice on the ice, prior to Wednesday's opener.

"We kind of talked about how half the battle to these Olympics is getting here healthy, to a point where we can play," the 34-year-old from Duluth, Minnesota said. "It's been less than ideal circumstances, obviously, for everybody. But as the Games continue on and we get some reps in under our belt and find that confidence, I think it'll help us sharpen up down the stretch."

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Wednesday's action lacked some of the typical fanfare of Olympic competition due to COVID-19. With the Games being staged in a "closed-loop system," Beijing 2022 organizers had announced that only select Chinese fans would be invited to watch the Games in person – and only if they met certain COVID-19 restrictions.

At the Ice Cube, this translated to about 200 fans spread out across six sections of blue seats, and a few dozen more scattered on the side opposite them. Most clapped when host China pulled off a big shot, or won an end. Others waived blue flags adorned with panda Bing Dwen Dwen, the mascot of the Games.

"It's cool, man," Plys said of the atmosphere. "We'll take fans any way we can get them right now. Last time I played in a major competition, there were cardboard cutouts of people in the stands, and that was a bit weird."

Persinger and Plys will return to the ice Thursday with two more round-robin games, against Italy and Norway.

It's a strange quirk of Olympic scheduling, that competition in some events begins before the Olympic flame is officially lit. Two other sports – moguls skiing and women's hockey – will join curling on the competition schedule Thursday, with the U.S. women facing Finland in their first preliminary game at 8:10 a.m. ET.

The ceremonial start of the Games will come roughly 24 hours later, with the opening ceremony at Beijing's National Stadium, more commonly known as the Bird's Nest. NBC's coverage of the event begins at 6:30 a.m. ET.

Contact Tom Schad at tschad@usatoday.com or on Twitter @Tom_Schad.

Planning underway for Northeast Wisconsin High School Sports ...

USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin

The Northeast Wisconsin High School Sports Awards is a nine-month student-athlete recognition program that culminates in a star-studded, on-demand broadcast show featuring the biggest names in professional sports and the top athletes from the Appleton, Fond du Lac, Green Bay, Manitowoc, Marshfield, Oshkosh, Sheboygan, Stevens Point, Wausau and Wisconsin Rapids coverage areas.

Honorees for 23 WIAA-sanctioned sports will be announced throughout the year in the Appleton Post-Crescent, Fond du Lac Reporter, Green Bay Press-Gazette, Manitowoc Herald Times Reporter, Marshfield News Herald, Oshkosh Northwestern, Sheboygan Press, Stevens Point Journal, Wausau Daily Herald and Wisconsin Rapids Daily Tribune. Nominees will also be announced on the event website at sportsawards.usatoday.com/northeastwi.

During the on-demand broadcast, top professional athletes and sportscasters will present these honorees, along with the three finalists and the athlete of the year for each sport.

The awards showcase also will feature other premier awards for the on- and off-the-field accomplishments of athletes, coaches and teams, including awards for a scholar-athlete of the year, the top band, coach of the year, team of the year, and the male and female athlete of the year.

The awards show will be free to watch on any smartphone or computer thanks to our sponsors. It’s scheduled to premiere at 6 p.m. June 30.

Once announced, honorees should register on the show website at sportsawards.usatoday.com/northeastwi to reserve their complimentary athlete gift box, which is scheduled to arrive approximately one week prior to the show. Registrations are also used to send out awards for winners following the show.

Visit sportsawards.usatoday.com/northeastwi to sign up for updates to keep up with show information, honoree selections, presenter announcements and more.

The Northeast Wisconsin High School Sports Awards, formerly known as Wisconsin Prep Sports Awards, is part of the USA TODAY High School Sports Awards, the largest high school sports recognition program in the country.

Event organizers had hoped to plan for an in-person event in 2021, but concerns for the continued safety and health of students and their families with the ongoing spread of COVID-19 led to the decision to produce a virtual streaming awards show.

“Due to the various county, state and regional variations in protection against the spread of the virus, as well as our own commitment to safety, we couldn’t confidently plan for live events across the country in 2021,” said Crystal Costa, Gannett’s event director for the high school sports award series. “We do hope and plan to be returning to our ESPY-style high school awards shows in person in 2022.”

Along with the chance to be recognized in this regional awards show, top student-athletes may also be featured as honorees for the Wisconsin High School Sports awards program.

Those honorees will also be announced throughout the year, and top selections for the statewide program will be announced July 15 on sportsawards.usatoday.com/wisconsin.

Visit the website to sign up for updates and honoree selections throughout the year. Stories about the selections and more program information can also be found at usatoday.com/sports/high-school-sports-awards.

Finally, the most elite high school athletes, coaches and teams from across the United States will be featured in the inaugural USA TODAY High School Sports Awards show.

The Wisconsin athlete of the year winners will be national honorees in baseball, basketball, cross country, football, golf, gymnastics, hockey, soccer, swimming and diving, tennis, volleyball, wrestling, softball, and track and field.

The USA TODAY High School Sports Awards show, which will be televised and available for streaming in early August, will showcase those honorees from each state, announce the top three in the country and then name the athlete of the year in each sport.

Viewers will also see awards for the freshman athlete of the year, play of the year, the nation’s top male and female athlete and many other premier awards for high school student-athletes.

Please use the hashtag #NEWISCONSINHSSA and #USATODAYHSSA for a chance to be featured on the social media feeds on the event websites and be a part of the online conversation.

Gannett owns and operates the largest high school athlete recognition program in the United States.

Viewers can find honorees from various regions, including the national honorees and winners at sportsawards.usatoday.com. For more information, email sportsawards@usatoday.com.

Players Championship: Powerful storm wreaks havoc as golf ...

CNN —

The Players Championship is set for its latest finish in at least 17 years after a powerful storm delayed the PGA Tour event for a second successive day in Florida.

Play at Ponte Vedra Beach’s TPC Sawgrass course has faced severe disruption since the tournament got underway on Thursday, with almost three inches of rainfall across 48 hours.

Approaching what would typically be the tournament’s penultimate day on Saturday, 47 players are yet to complete their first round.

Florida is currently under tornado watch until 11 a.m. E.T Saturday – the earliest time the Tour said play will resume – with possibilities of tornadoes, winds of up to 70 mph, and heavy rain the key concerns, according to CNN weather’s team.

Justin Rose of England lines up a putt as caddie David Clark holds an umbrella. Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images

Flooding caused by additional rain could be particularly disruptive for grounds staff at The Players – nicknamed ‘the fifth major’ for its prestige – and looks set to extend the tournament to, at a minimum, its first Monday finish since 2005.

“Unfortunately, the weather conditions are not providing us any relief,” Chief Referee Gary Young said on Friday.

“Our desire is to not have anyone on the property at that time,” added Young, referring to the projected severe weather system on Saturday. “We are into a Monday finish. We know that.”

The rain and severe storm threat will have passed by midday Saturday, according to the CNN weather team, though temperatures will plummet and strong winds of up to 40 mph look set to prolong difficulties for golfers.

Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland lines up his putt amid the rain. Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images

‘Unplayable’

On the eve of the tournament, Young said organizers were “confident” in their ability to navigate bad weather, yet issues began also immediately when overnight rainfall delayed the start by an hour.

Play was resumed only to be later suspended for over four hours due to dangerous weather, Thursday ultimately concluding with 69 players – less than half the field – completing their first round.

Friday saw little improvement – just 22 more players completing their opening rounds before heavy rain saw play called off after four hours.

“The golf course has reached a point where it’s unplayable,” Young said Friday.

The seventh hole at TPC Sawgrass. David Cannon/Getty Images

England’s Tommy Fleetwood sits level with US pair Tom Hoge and Brice Garnett at six under heading into the eventual restart.

Fleetwood, one of the 69 players able to finish their first round on Thursday, has gone two years without a victory, but made an excellent start with three straight birdies after the delay.

“I’m chuffed to be in on that score,” Fleetwood said Thursday.

“I felt like I drove the ball well aside from a couple, and I felt like I chipped and putted great. For sure, that was the most I could have got out of the round. So days like that are very, very pleasing.”


Why a growing number of states are cracking down on TikTok | CNN ...

Washington CNN —

Two years after TikTok avoided a national ban in the United States, the popular short-form video app is now facing growing pushback at the state level.

In the past two weeks, at least seven states have said they will bar public employees from using the app on government devices, including Alabama, Maryland, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah and Texas. (Another state, Nebraska, banned TikTok from state devices in 2020.) Last week, the state of Indiana announced two lawsuits against TikTok accusing the Chinese-owned platform of misrepresenting its approach to age-appropriate content and data security.

On Tuesday, a group of 15 attorneys general wrote to Apple and Google calling on the app store owners to stop listing TikTok as being appropriate for teens, over claims about the prevalence of mature content on the app.

The mounting pressure on TikTok has come from states led by Republican governors who have highlighted fears that TikTok users’ personal information could wind up in the hands of the Chinese government, thanks to that country’s national security laws.

“South Dakota will have no part in the intelligence gathering operations of nations who hate us,” said Gov. Kristi Noem in announcing the new state policy.

The flurry of announcements has drawn sharp contrasts with activity at the federal level. Since 2020, when the Trump administration threatened a ban over national security concerns, TikTok and the US government have been negotiating a deal that may allow the short-form video app to keep serving US users.

There have been years of closed-door negotiations between TikTok and the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, an opaque multi-agency panel charged with reviewing foreign investment deals for national security risks. One US official has suggested that CFIUS ban TikTok from the United States outright.

Whatever outcome the negotiations produce is still expected to have big implications for TikTok and its users. But the federal government’s continued inaction on that front, as well as recent reports of delays in the negotiations, has left the door open for states to step in as the app has gained immense popularity among US users.

In taking these steps, the states are unlikely to disrupt how everyday users access the app. But these recent announcements could nonetheless add to political pressure for tougher action at the federal level, which could in turn be more disruptive to users.

“It feels like the states are stepping into the DC vacuum on TikTok,” said Paul Gallant, a policy analyst at the investment research firm Cowen Inc. “I don’t see those new restrictions disrupting TikTok that much, but it probably adds a bit of pressure for Washington to ‘do something’ on TikTok one way or another.”

The Treasury Department, CFIUS’s chair agency, said in a statement that the panel is “committed to taking all necessary actions within its authority to safeguard US national security” and declined to comment on TikTok specifically. The White House also declined to comment.

“We’re disappointed that so many states are jumping on the bandwagon to enact policies based on unfounded, politically charged falsehoods about TikTok,” Hilary McQuaide, a spokesperson for TikTok, said in a statement provided to CNN. “It’s unfortunate that the many state agencies, offices, and universities on TikTok in those states will no longer be able to use it to build communities and connect with constituents.”

A long wait for federal action

US lawmakers have raised bipartisan concerns that China’s national security laws could force TikTok — or its parent, ByteDance — to hand over the personal data of its US users. Security experts have said that the data could allow China to identify intelligence opportunities or to seek to influence US users through disinformation campaigns.

TikTok has said it is working with the US government to address all reasonable national security concerns. It has also taken independent steps to isolate US user data from other parts of its business. Last week, amid the pushback from the states, the company said it would restructure its US-focused content moderation, policy and legal teams under US Data Security, a special group within the company that’s led by US-based officials and walled off organizationally from other teams focused on the rest of the world.

Under the change, content policies TikTok develops for its global audience must be “reviewed and approved” for US audiences by TikTok’s US Data Security group, to ensure the policies meet the standards of any deal approved by CFIUS, the company said. Content moderation involving US users’ data, TikTok said, will be handled by a US-specific trust and safety team within the US Digital Security group, and not by its global trust and safety team.

TikTok has previously acknowledged that employees based in China can currently access user data, and has also declined to commit to stop sending US user information to China.

Harry Broadman, who leads the CFIUS practice at Berkeley Research Group, a consulting firm, said he isn’t privy to the details of the negotiation between TikTok and the US government but called the continued lack of resolution “a mystery.”

“I’m a little bit mystified why it’s taking so long for CFIUS to deal with this problem,” he said. “There must be some issue that’s going on.”

On Tuesday, Sen. Marco Rubio, the top Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee, and a bipartisan pair of congressmen in the House, introduced new legislation that aims to ban TikTok from operating in the United States. In a statement, Rubio expressed frustration with the lack of action at the federal level.

“The federal government has yet to take a single meaningful action to protect American users from the threat of TikTok,” Rubio said. “There is no more time to waste on meaningless negotiations with a CCP-puppet company. It is time to ban Beijing-controlled TikTok for good.”

An opening for Republican governors

With no deal yet between CFIUS and TikTok, the states led by Republican officials appear to have capitalized on the moment from a “tactical, political, winning-points perspective,” Broadman said.

“I don’t think it reflects a deeper suspicion on the part of the Republicans versus Democrats,” he said. “I think it’s more of a tactical question.”

Since government agencies have clear authority to manage their own devices in ways they see fit, barring public employees from using the app represents low-hanging fruit (and easy headlines), Broadman said.

In some ways, the states that have restricted TikTok are following the federal government’s lead. Already, the US military, the State Department, and the Department of Homeland Security have prohibited their own employees from using TikTok.

States such as Maryland also enacted their TikTok bans on government devices as part of a wider crackdown on Chinese-linked products and services, making the announcement more about China than about TikTok individually. Maryland’s directive also applies to Huawei and ZTE, which the US government has also taken steps to block from US markets.

At least one state is going even further. Last week, Indiana sued TikTok in two separate cases. One claimed that TikTok lures children onto the platform by falsely claiming it is appropriate for users between 13 and 17 years old; the other claims TikTok has “deceived” consumers about whether user data is sufficiently protected from Chinese government access. TikTok has declined to comment on the litigation but has said “the safety, privacy and security of our community is our top priority.”

Some states could also choose to begin advancing meaningful legislation that effectively limits TikTok on private devices, Broadman said, in a move that would more directly impact TikTok’s American user base. But such a move would likely introduce other issues about the regulation of commerce, and potentially result in legal challenges.

Senate passes legislation to ban TikTok from US government devices

CNN —

The Senate passed legislation Wednesday evening to ban TikTok from US government devices, in a move designed to limit perceived information-security risks stemming from the social media app.

The vote by unanimous consent approved the No TikTok on Government Devices Act, a bill authored by Missouri Republican Sen. Josh Hawley.

The move marks lawmakers’ latest step against the short-form video app that has become popular with over a billion users worldwide. US officials fear that TikTok’s user data could end up in the hands of the Chinese government due to that country’s influence over TikTok’s parent, ByteDance.

A companion bill was introduced in the House last year by Colorado Republican Rep. Ken Buck. It has yet to be approved by members of the House Oversight Committee.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Thursday it isn’t yet clear whether the chamber will take up the TikTok bill in light of its Senate passage, saying lawmakers were consulting with White House officials on its language.

“Once again, Sen. Hawley has moved forward with legislation to ban TikTok on government devices, a proposal which does nothing to advance U.S. national security interests,” a spokesperson for TikTok said in a statement. “We hope that rather than continuing down that road, he will urge the Administration to move forward on an agreement that would actually address his concerns.”

The latest legislative action comes as TikTok and the US government have been negotiating a deal that may allow the app to keep serving US users. There have been years of closed-door talks between TikTok and the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, as well as recent reports of delays in the negotiations.

Some lawmakers have expressed frustration with an apparent lack of progress in those talks. Following Wednesday’s vote, Virginia Democratic Sen. Mark Warner, a vocal critic of TikTok, said of the process: “My patience is running out.”

On Tuesday, US lawmakers led by Florida Republican Sen. Marco Rubio introduced a bill to ban TikTok in the United States more generally, along with other apps based in, or under the “substantial influence” of, countries that are considered foreign adversaries, including China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, Cuba and Venezuela. In introducing the bill, Rubio also indicated some frustration, saying that the federal government “has yet to take a single meaningful action” on the matter.

But several senators, including Warner and Hawley, have stopped short of endorsing Rubio’s proposal. On Thursday, Hawley said he would be “fine” if the US government and TikTok reached a deal to safeguard US users’ data. “But if they don’t do that … then I think we’re going to have to look at more stringent measures,” Hawley said.

In the past two weeks, at least seven states have said they will bar public employees from using the app on government devices, including Alabama, Maryland, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah and Texas. (Another state, Nebraska, banned TikTok from state devices in 2020.)

Some US government agencies have independently taken steps to limit TikTok usage among their employees. Already, the US military, the State Department and the Department of Homeland Security have restricted the app from government-owned devices. But Wednesday’s bill would apply to the entire federal workforce.

US TikTok bans? Efforts spread in Congress; Texas, GA among states

Bans and restrictions on the popular social media app TikTok are spreading at the state and federal levels, with some lawmakers seeking to block TikTok in the United States.

The U.S. Senate this week approved legislation to ban the use of the video platform on government devices. Some state lawmakers have blocked TikTok on state devices too, and officials in the Senate and House also introduced legislation to block TikTok from coast to coast.

But why are lawmakers focused on the app that many Americans know as a place where teenagers learn viral dance challenges? Here’s what you need to know.

Why do officials care about TikTok?

Critics of TikTok fear that the Chinese government could gain access to information through the app or use it to spread misinformation. That’s because TikTok is owned by ByteDance, a Chinese company. For example:

FBI Director Christopher Wray earlier this month said the bureau was concerned with Chinese officials controlling the app’s algorithm and argued that China could use the app to view data on users.

Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, called TikTok “an enormous threat” in an interview earlier this year.

But there has been debate over whether Chinese officials are actively collecting TikTok data, or that China could actually gain an advantage from information sourced from the app.

Are all of the TikTok bans the same?

No, different lawmakers are asking for different actions targeting the social media app. Some of the moves go further than others.

State lawmakers have mostly restricted TikTok from devices controlled or issued by a state government. Some of the states that have taken action include:

The U.S. armed forces have also banned TikTok on devices from the military.

At the federal level, Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., introduced legislation to ban TikTok from operating in the U.S. Reps. Mike Gallagher, R-Wis., and Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Ill., sponsored companion legislation in the U.S. House.

Also at the federal level, Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., introduced legislation to ban TikTok on government devices. That legislation was passed this week with unanimous consent, meaning no senators objected to the legislation.

How many people use TikTok?

The app said last year that more than one billion people around the world use TikTok every month. The average American user watched TikTok for 80 minutes a day, The Washington Post reported.

Approximately 67% of U.S. teenagers say they ever use TikTok, according to the Pew Research Center.

Has the US tried to ban TikTok before?

Yes, former President Donald Trump issued orders focused on Chinese tech companies. The orders tried to block new users from downloading TikTok or WeChat, a messaging app, but the orders failed in court.

The Senate also passed a bill in 2020 to ban TikTok, but it never passed in the House.

What does TikTok say about the bans?

TikTok in a statement to USA TODAY this week called Rubio’s proposed legislation “politically motivated.”

"TikTok is loved by millions of Americans who use the platform to learn, grow their businesses, and connect with creative content that brings them joy," said Brooke Oberwetter, a TikTok spokesperson. "We will continue to brief members of Congress on the plans that have been developed under the oversight of our country's top national security agencies – plans that we are well underway in implementing – to further secure our platform in the United States."

USA TODAY has reached out to TikTok for comment on this story.

What's next for TikTok in the US?

President Joe Biden has ordered the Commerce Department to review security concerns. U.S. officials and the company have been in talks about a potential agreement to resolve security concerns for people living in America.

Go deeper

Contributing: Natalie Neysa Alund, USA TODAY; The Associated Press

TIKTok ban bill introduced by US lawmakers | CNN Business

Washington CNN —

A trio of US lawmakers has introduced new legislation that aims to ban TikTok from operating in the United States.

The new bill by Sen. Marco Rubio, the top Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee, and a bipartisan pair of congressmen in the House, reflects the latest escalation by US policymakers against the Chinese-owned short-form video app. TikTok has faced doubts about its ability to safeguard US user data from the Chinese government.

The proposed legislation would “block and prohibit all transactions” in the United States by social media companies with at least one million monthly users that are based in, or under the “substantial influence” of, countries that are considered foreign adversaries, including China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, Cuba and Venezuela.

The bill specifically names TikTok and its parent, ByteDance, as social media companies for the purposes of the legislation. Rubio and one of the House sponsors of the bill, Wisconsin Republican Rep. Mike Gallagher, had indicated their intention to introduce the bill in a Washington Post op-ed last month.

The legislation comes as a wave of states led by Republican governors have introduced state-level restrictions on the use of TikTok on government-owned devices. In the past two weeks, at least seven states have introduced such measures, including Maryland, South Dakota and Utah.

The flurry of activity contrasts with the lengthy negotiations TikTok has been having for years with the US government on a potential deal that may allow the company to address the national security concerns and to continue serving US users.

“The federal government has yet to take a single meaningful action to protect American users from the threat of TikTok,” Rubio said in a statement. “There is no more time to waste on meaningless negotiations with a CCP-puppet company. It is time to ban Beijing-controlled TikTok for good.”

“It’s troubling that rather than encouraging the Administration to conclude its national security review of TikTok, some members of Congress have decided to push for a politically-motivated ban that will do nothing to advance the national security of the United States,” Hilary McQuaide, a spokesperson for TikTok, said in a statement.

“We will continue to brief members of Congress on the plans that have been developed under the oversight of our country’s top national security agencies—plans that we are well underway in implementing—to further secure our platform in the United States,” McQuaide added.

TikTok has previously said it doesn’t share information with the Chinese government and that a US-based security team decides who can access US user data from China. TikTok has also previously acknowledged that employees based in China can currently access user data.

Tuesday’s bill is not the only federal legislation to target TikTok. Last year, US lawmakers proposed a law that would ban TikTok usage by federal agencies, and Rubio introduced a bill that would force some app makers to disclose ownership information. Another bill introduced this fall would prohibit TikTok from allowing China-based employees to access the user data of US citizens.

Already, the US military, the State Department and the Department of Homeland Security have restricted TikTok from devices under their control.

Washington moved fast to crack down on TikTok but has made little ...

CNN —

In a matter of days, the United States is expected to ban federal employees from downloading or using TikTok on government-issued phones or tablets, marking the country’s broadest crackdown on the short-form video app to date.

The looming ban is the result of a bill that’s moved through Congress in the final days of the year with lightning-fast speed and bipartisan support. It’s gone from being just another proposal from a Republican lawmaker to being unanimously adopted in the Senate, backed by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and added to a massive year-end congressional spending package. The proposed ban has support from the White House, which already blocks TikTok on its devices.

The TikTok measure, while limited in its impact on the app’s wider US user base, highlights how quickly lawmakers can act when a combination of national security fears, bipartisan anti-China suspicions, and more targeted proposals cause the legislative stars to align.

But in fast-tracking the bill, Congress can’t help but draw attention to its notable lack of progress on regulating American tech giants more broadly — despite years of reports, hearings and proposed legislation.

The stark difference between the two illustrates how simple narratives, well-funded lobbying and genuinely thorny policy questions can make or break a bill. It also hints at how a select few Big Tech companies continue to maintain their dominance in the market and their centrality in the lives of countless US households.

Washington finds a different tech villain

The tech industry’s largest players have faced a kitchen sink of allegations in recent years. From knee-capping nascent rivals; to harming children and mental health; to undermining democracy; to spreading hate speech and harassment; to censoring conservative viewpoints; to bankrupting local news outlets; Big Tech has been made out as one of Washington’s largest villains.

But over the course of this year, TikTok has once again emerged as an even bigger target, two years after the Trump administration threatened to ban the application in the United States amid rising tensions with China. And one reason why is the relatively straightforward case that US policymakers have put forward for banning the app.

The central allegation against TikTok is that the company poses a potential national security risk. US officials have worried that the Chinese government could pressure TikTok or its parent company, ByteDance, into handing over the personal information of its US users, which could then be used for Chinese intelligence operations or the spreading of Chinese-backed disinformation.

There’s no evidence yet that that has actually happened. Still, policymakers and security experts have said China’s national security laws make it a possibility — identifying a kernel of risk that fits into a broader anti-China narrative linked to issues including trade, human rights and authoritarianism. Those concerns were renewed after a report this year suggested US user data had been repeatedly accessed by China-based employees. TikTok has disputed the report.

In recent weeks, numerous states have leapt on the bandwagon, further increasing the pressure on Congress to act. More than a dozen states have now banned TikTok on state government devices, from Maryland to South Dakota.

TikTok has insisted it maintains robust security controls on its data and that it prioritizes user privacy. It has also taken steps in recent months to wall off US user data from other parts of its business, both technologically and organizationally. But earlier this year, it acknowledged that China-based employees can access TikTok user data and declined to commit to cutting off those data flows in general.

Since 2020, TikTok has been negotiating with the US government on a possible deal to keep the app running in the United States. But those talks have so far proven fruitless, giving an opening to policymakers in Congress and at the state level to seek restrictions on TikTok.

“We’re disappointed that Congress has moved to ban TikTok on government devices—a political gesture that will do nothing to advance national security interests—rather than encouraging the Administration to conclude its national security review,” said Brooke Oberwetter, a TikTok spokesperson.

Congress has moved swiftly on a bill that would ban federal employees from downloading or using TikTok on government-issued phones or tablets. But it's been far slower to take meaningful action on American tech giants. Sarah Silbiger/Reuters

TikTok’s head of public policy, Michael Beckerman, has called the ban affecting government devices a “political approach that doesn’t have any real impact on national security.”

“We think a lot of the concerns are maybe overblown,” Beckerman told CNN’s Jake Tapper on Tuesday, “but we do think these problems can be solved” through the ongoing government negotiations.

American tech giants better at playing defense

TikTok has significantly expanded its Washington presence in recent years.

In 2019, ByteDance had 17 lobbyists and spent $270,000 on lobbying, according to public records gathered by the transparency group OpenSecrets. By the end of last year, its lobbyist count had more than doubled and the company had spent nearly $5.2 million on lobbying.

That pales in comparison, however, to the full force of Big Tech’s lobbying machine, which has become one of the largest in Washington.

Meta was the biggest internet industry lobbying giant last year, spending upward of $20 million. Next was Amazon at $19 million, then Google at almost $10 million. Combined, that’s roughly $49 million in lobbying — almost 10 times what was spent by TikTok’s parent, which nevertheless clocked in at number four on the list.

Tech giants have repeatedly deployed their CEOs to Capitol Hill, who in some cases have made arguments citing the threat of Chinese competition. They’ve also leaned on help from trade associations they’re members of and relied on advertising campaigns to make the case against some of the biggest legislative threats to their business.

One of those bills, the American Innovation and Choice Online Act (AICOA), would erect new barriers between tech platforms’ various lines of business, preventing Amazon, for example, from being able to compete with third-party sellers on its own marketplace. That legislation was a product of a 16-month House antitrust investigation into the tech industry that concluded, in 2020, that many of the biggest tech companies were effectively monopolies.

For much of this year, supporters of AICOA insisted the legislation had enough votes to pass, and they called on Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer to bring it to a floor vote. But between intense tech lobbying and doubts about whether the bill did in fact have the votes, it never received the floor time its supporters wanted. The same fate awaited other tech-focused antitrust bills, such as one that would have forced Apple to allow users to download iPhone apps from any website, not just its own app store.

For a brief moment this month, lawmakers seemed poised to pass a bill that could force Meta, Google and other platforms to pay news organizations a larger share of ad revenues. But the legislation stumbled after Meta warned it could have to drop news content from its platforms altogether if the bill passed.

Time and again, Silicon Valley’s biggest players have maneuvered expertly in Washington, defending their turf from lawmakers keen to knock them down a peg.

An easy win for Congress

But it isn’t just lobbying that has made some of these bills difficult to pass. It’s much more challenging to impose sweeping regulations on an entire industry than it is to pass a bill governing how the US government handles its own technology.

The TikTok bill banning the app from government devices is seen as having a limited potential impact on the company’s wider US user base, which skews younger. A ban on public employees’ use of the app likely wouldn’t reach the many teens or other young people with whom the app has grown increasingly popular.

With at least 100 million US users as of 2020, and likely more by now, TikTok has become almost “too big” to ban outright, some analysts have said.

Politically speaking, in light of TikTok’s deep foothold among US consumers, a ban affecting government devices also represents low-hanging fruit for policymakers who enjoy clear legal authority over official devices and don’t have to worry about triggering a consumer backlash that a broader ban might invite.

By contrast, decisions about the rules government might impose on tech platforms have called into question how those regulations may affect different parts of the economy, from small businesses to individual users to the future of the internet itself.

In some cases, as with proposals to revise the tech industry’s decades-old content moderation liability shield, Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, legislation may raise First Amendment issues as well as partisan divisions. Democrats have said Section 230 should be changed because it gives social media companies a pass to leave some hate speech and offensive content unaddressed, while Republicans have called for changes to the law so that platforms can be pressured to remove less content.

The cross-cutting politics and the technical challenges of regulating an entire sector of technology, not to mention the potential consequences for the economy of screwing it up, have combined to make it genuinely difficult for lawmakers to reach an accord.

It’s no wonder, then, that when Congress sees an easier victory within its grasp, lawmakers take it.

South Dakota governor bans state employees from using TikTok on ...

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Why TikTok bans have spread onto college campuses in multiple ...

Leon Ondieki earns a living filming and posting TikTok videos on college campuses. He built up his following just before he enrolled at the University of Georgia and has amassed 2.1 million followers – which helped pay for his tuition and a car.

As a growing number of universities ban the wildly popular social media platform on school-owned devices and networks, Ondieki is adapting, posting on YouTube Shorts and Snapchat Spotlight. Now taking a gap year, he outfitted the sprinter van for his upcoming tour with Starlink, a broadband internet service, and a hot spot so he doesn't have to rely on campus Wi-Fi.

"For any content creator who's in school, I can see how this would be frustrating, especially considering that some content creators have made a lot of money for their schools," he said, pointing to high-profile athletes like Olympic gold medalist Sunisa Lee, who competes for Auburn University – which has banned the app – and who has more than 1.6 million TikTok followers

The University of Texas at Austin this week became one of the latest to announce it is restricting access to TikTok. Universities in Texas, Oklahoma and Georgia also are among those limiting access and shutting down official university accounts. The colleges often cite recent state and federal level bans when taking action.

The bans come after more than 30 states have issued varying TikTok bans, Congress banned TikTok from most government-issued devices, and the U.S. armed forces banned the app on military devices.

Experts say that although the measures don't fully bar TikTok, they can inhibit faculty’s research, teaching and ability to connect with students.

Which schools have banned TikTok?

Why ban TikTok?

TikTok is owned by Chinese company ByteDance, and some worry that it could share sensitive data with the Chinese government. FBI Director Christopher Wray told Congress in November that he is “extremely concerned” China could weaponize data collected through the app.

Higher education institutions are being cautious because they could lose public funding or be sued if there's a majority security breach, said Vanessa Dennen, professor of instructional systems and learning technologies at Florida State University, which has no ban.

"Personnel data, student data, our research data – the protection of data is something that we're highly concerned with," Dennen said. "There seems to be sufficient reasonable concern from a data security issue or standpoint and it's not unusual for universities to have this kind of a concern."

Do TikTok bans work?

The restrictions do not erase TikTok from campus, Dennen said: Users can still access the app on personal devices using cellular data.

University of Texas at Austin professors Natalie Stroud and Samuel Woolley questioned whether the ban will have the intended security effect given staff are able to access university systems on their personal devices as well.

"It's unclear to me what the specific threat is of potential data gathered by the Chinese government," Woolley added.

How will the bans affect students and faculty?

For Stroud and Woolley, part of the university's Center for Media Engagement, the ban means they'll no longer be able to share information with students through the center's TikTok channel or share videos in classes. They said the ban will keep them from being able to effectively teach and research disinformation, misinformation and other forms of propaganda spreading on TikTok.

"If you're not able to relate to them with a communication medium that many of them use frequently, that's a significant handicap," Stroud said.

University faculty and staff also use the app to recruit students and engage with the school community and athletic fans.

"It isn't just the research," Dennen said. "It is the marketing of the universities, of the institutions that would be affected."

Sixty-seven percent of U.S. teenagers say they use TikTok, according to the Pew Research Center. But Dennen said she doesn't believe the bans will have a major impact on most students.

"People will have their workarounds, and their workarounds are not going to be tremendously difficult or cumbersome," Dennen said.

UT Austin professors:Why the TikTok ban needs university exemptions

How has TikTok responded to the bans?

The company is "disappointed" by the recent state-level bans, Jamal Brown, a spokesperson for TikTok, told USA TODAY.

"We're disappointed that so many states are jumping on the political bandwagon to enact policies that will do nothing to advance cybersecurity in their states and are based on unfounded falsehoods about TikTok," Brown said. "We're especially sorry to see the unintended consequences of these rushed policies beginning to impact universities' ability to share information, recruit students, and build communities around athletic teams, student groups, campus publications, and more."

Dig deeper

Contributing: The Associated Press

Contact Breaking News Reporter N'dea Yancey-Bragg at nyanceybra@gannett.com or follow her on Twitter @NdeaYanceyBragg

Some universities are now restricting TikTok access on campus ...

CNN —

A small but growing number of universities are now blocking access to TikTok on school-owned devices or WiFi networks, in the latest sign of a widening crackdown on the popular short-form video app.

The University of Oklahoma and Auburn University in Alabama have each said they will restrict student and faculty access to TikTok, in order to comply with recent moves from the governors in their respective states to ban TikTok on government-issued devices. The 26 universities and colleges in the University System of Georgia are also reportedly taking a similar step.

“In compliance with the Governor’s Executive Order 2022-33, effective immediately, no university employee or student shall access the TikTok application or website on University-owned or operated devices, including OU wired and wireless networks,” the University of Oklahoma said in an email this week.

According to the email, the school will also require that university-administered TikTok accounts be deleted and “alternate social media platforms utilized in their place.”

More than a dozen states, including Maryland, South Dakota and Texas, have announced bans in recent weeks of TikTok for state employees on government-issued devices. The bans come as a growing number of lawmakers continue to scrutinize TikTok over possible national security concerns due to its ties to China through its parent company, ByteDance.

The criticism ramped up earlier this year after a Buzzfeed News report said some US user data has been repeatedly accessed from China, and cited one employee who allegedly said, “Everything is seen in China.” TikTok, for its part, has confirmed US user data can be accessed by some employees in China.

“We’re disappointed that so many states are jumping on the political bandwagon to enact policies that will do nothing to advance cybersecurity in their states and are based on unfounded falsehoods about TikTok,” Jamal Brown, a spokesperson for TikTok, said in a statement provided to CNN on Thursday.

“We’re especially sorry to see the unintended consequences of these rushed policies beginning to impact universities’ ability to share information, recruit students, and build communities around athletic teams, student groups, campus publications, and more,” Brown added.

Auburn University in Alabama started restricting access to TikTok on school-owned devices or Wi-Fi networks last week, in accordance with Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey’s recent executive order for state-owned networks and devices to block access to and from the TikTok social media application.

But an Auburn University spokesperson told CNN the decision is “not a ban on campus.” TikTok users will still be able to access the app on personal devices via their own mobile data.

Last week, a trio of lawmakers led by Republican Sen. Marco Rubio introduced a bill that aims to ban TikTok from operating in the United States. In a statement announcing the proposed legislation, Rubio accused TikTok of collecting data to “manipulate feeds” and blasted the app as a “CCP [Chinese Communist Party]-puppet company.”

TikTok has been negotiating for years with the US government on a potential deal that addresses national security concerns and lets the app continue serving US customers. It has also taken steps to isolate US user data from other parts of its business.

In addition, TikTok faces scrutiny over it’s powerful algorithm which may lead users, and especially its youngest users, down concerning rabbit holes, including directing them to potentially harmful subject matter such as content around suicide and eating disorders.

TikTok has made a number of announcements in recent years in an effort to ease concerns, including publishing tools to help users customize content recommendations, rolling out parental controls to give users more options to restrict what their children can see on the app, and pledging more transparency related to its content moderation systems for researchers.

US House bans TikTok from official devices | CNN Business

Washington CNN —

TikTok has been banned from electronic devices managed by the US House of Representatives, according to an internal notice sent to House staff.

Users who install the short-form video app on any House mobile device will be asked to remove the software, according to the notice, which was provided to CNN by the Office of the Chief Administrative Officer.

The notice identifies TikTok as a “high risk to users due to a number of security risks.”

Separately, the US government is soon expected to ban TikTok from all federal devices as part of legislation included in the $1.7 trillion omnibus bill awaiting President Joe Biden’s signature. The move comes after more than a dozen states in recent weeks have implemented their own prohibitions against TikTok on government devices.

TikTok has previously called efforts to ban the app from government devices “a political gesture that will do nothing to advance national security interests.” TikTok declined to comment on the House restrictions.

US policymakers have cited TikTok as a potential national security risk, saying that the Chinese government could pressure TikTok or its parent company, ByteDance, into handing over the personal information of its US users, which could then be used for Chinese intelligence operations or the spreading of Chinese-backed disinformation.

There is no evidence that that has actually occurred, though the company last week confirmed that it fired four employees who improperly accessed the TikTok user data of two journalists on the platform.

Since 2020, TikTok has been negotiating with the US government on a potential deal to resolve the national security concerns and allow the app to remain available to US users. TikTok has said that the potential agreement under review covers “key concerns around corporate governance, content recommendation and moderation, and data security and access.” The company has also taken some steps to wall off US user data, organizationally and technologically, from other parts of TikTok’s business.

But an apparent lack of progress in the talks has led some of TikTok’s critics, including in Congress and at the state level, to push for the app to be banned from government devices and potentially more broadly.

FCC commissioner calls for TikTok ban | CNN Business

Washington CNN Business —

The US government should ban TikTok rather than come to a national security agreement with the social media app that might allow it to continue operating in the United States, according to Brendan Carr, a commissioner at the Federal Communications Commission.

A string of news reports this year about TikTok’s handling of US user data has left Carr with “little confidence there’s a path forward,” he told CNN in a phone interview Tuesday. “Perhaps the deal CFIUS ends up cutting is an amazing, airtight deal, but at this point I have a very, very difficult time looking at TikTok’s conduct thinking we’re going to cut a technical construct that they’re not going to find a way around.”

The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, a multi-agency government body charged with reviewing business deals involving foreign ownership, has spent months negotiating with TikTok on a proposal to resolve concerns that Chinese government authorities could seek to gain access to the data TikTok holds on US citizens. This year the company said it had migrated its US user data to servers run by Oracle, but concerns have persisted over whether China-based employees of TikTok or its parent, ByteDance, will still be able to access that information. Those bipartisan fears were again raised in September, when under pressure from US lawmakers, TikTok declined to commit to cutting off data flows to China.

“Commissioner Carr has no role in or direct knowledge of the confidential discussions with the US government related to TikTok and is not in a position to discuss what those negotiations entail” a TikTok spokesperson said in a statement to CNN. “We are confident that we are on a path to reaching an agreement with the US government that will satisfy all reasonable national security concerns.”

Carr, who spoke to CNN from Taiwan during a first-ever visit by an FCC official to that country, said he has not met with CFIUS member agencies or the White House to specifically raise the issue, though he added the topic could have arisen incidentally amid other routine discussions.

Carr’s call for a TikTok ban was first reported by Axios, and the remarks expand on his earlier calls for Apple and Google to remove TikTok from their respective app stores.

Carr acknowledged that as an FCC official, his own capacity to regulate TikTok is limited; CFIUS, the Commerce Department or the Federal Trade Commission may have greater legal authority over the company, he said.

Still, Carr said his call for a TikTok ban reflects a “natural progression in my thinking” and is informed by his own agency’s work to limit China’s influence in US telecommunications networks. The FCC has taken numerous steps to block or ban Chinese-affiliated telecom companies from selling equipment or services in the United States, over allegations that those companies could also be compelled to give up the data they hold on US communications to the Chinese government.

“For me, this is taking what I’ve learned in the Huawei, ZTE, China Mobile context, where we’re looking at possibly nefarious data flows, and bringing it to bear in terms of this issue,” Carr said.