Separation or ban? According to a report, the US is demanding that controversial video app Tiktok leave Chinese parent company Bytedance.
According to a report, the US government is threatening to ban the controversial video app Tiktok nationwide. According to the Wall Street Journal, a committee from the US Treasury Department has given an ultimatum to Chinese parent company Bytedance. The article is based on anonymous “people familiar with the subject”.
Tiktok denied the reports. Company spokesperson Maureen Shanahan said this is not the right approach when it comes to US national security. Shanahan said that in terms of national security, the best way forward is for user data to be transparently protected in the US and monitored by a third party. Tiktok already guarantees that.
US government employees are already required to delete Tiktok from their work devices.
TikTok sees segregation as a last resort
TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew is scheduled to appear before the US Congress next week. According to a media report, the company is considering divesting ByteDance as a last resort to allay US security concerns. ByteDance confirmed that 60 percent of the shares belong to global investors, 20 percent to employees and 20 percent to founders.
Due to the proximity of TikTok and parent ByteDance to the Chinese government, security officials fear that China will use personal user data or misuse it to manipulate public opinion. TikTok and the Chinese government deny the allegations. According to TikTok, if the goal is to protect national security, divestment will not solve the problem. A change in ownership does not impose new restrictions on data flow or access.
Data security has been a problem for years
At the end of February, the White House ordered all US federal agencies to remove the TikTok app from all government phones within 30 days. The Office of Management and Budget said that this addresses threats to sensitive government data from Tiktok.
US authorities and TikTok have been negotiating data security requirements for more than two years. It is unclear whether the Chinese government has approved a sale. A ban in the US would impose significant legal hurdles. Former US President Donald Trump’s attempt to ban TikTok during his tenure failed in US courts. About two-thirds of teenagers in the US use the video platform.
Source: ZDF
I’m Ashley Robinson, a professional writer and journalist. I specialize in news writing and have been working for the past five years with News Unrolled. My main focus is on technology-related topics, though I also write about politics, healthcare, and business from time to time.
