It appears that the US government is threatening a nationwide ban on Tiktok

According to a report, the US government is threatening a nationwide ban on controversial video app Tiktok, and has given Chinese parent company Bytedance an ultimatum.

It’s all about this

Tiktok, which is owned by the Chinese company Bytedance, has long been under close scrutiny in the US. US authorities fear that the Chinese government will use Tiktok for espionage purposes because the app has access to millions of customer records in the US.

Now Joe Biden’s government wants a report from before Wall Street Journal According to do the screws with the heads. According to the report, the US government plans to give the Chinese owners an ultimatum: either Bytedance sells its shares in the app, or Tiktok will be banned entirely in the US.

What is a “settlement” supposed to be?

According to the newspaper, the aforementioned “settlement” was submitted by the US authority CFIUS. This is responsible for assessing foreign investment risks to national security. For months, there have been concerns in the United States and other Western countries that the Chinese state could access Tiktok users’ data via Bytedance.

Therefore, the CFIUS authority has had Tiktok in its sights for a long time, and in 2020 wrote a report expressing concerns about national security. Former President Donald Trump wanted to ban Tiktok during his tenure, but the court stopped it. Several authorities at the local and national levels, as well as some universities, have already banned Tiktok.

So far, neither the White House nor the CFIUS Authority have wanted to comment on the reports.

This is how Tiktok reacts

A Tiktok spokeswoman obliquely called the US government’s alleged plan futile. “The change in ownership will not impose any new restrictions on data flow or access,” spokeswoman Maureen Shanahan said in a statement. USA Today He writes.

A few months ago, Tiktok announced that the US had committed to improving security controls and isolating all traffic from US users. Shanahan said it remains “the best way to address national security concerns,” she said.

Tiktok in the United States

With a billion users around the world, Tiktok is especially popular among the younger generation. You can create short videos, and the algorithm will suggest videos to watch. Short video service usage has increased dramatically recently, particularly in the United States, including among older internet users. More than 100 million people use the app. Tiktok has already surpassed other networks like Youtube, Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook in terms of time spent on it.

At the end of February, the White House ordered the app to be removed from all devices of US federal agencies. The European Union Commission also made a similar decision regarding mobile phones for its officials.

(con/sda/dpa)

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