A US TikTok ban could become a reality if Chinese owners don’t sell their stake

Necessary factors
  • The White Home has had its sights set on a TikTok ban for a lot of years.
  • It has mentioned it may ban the app if Chinese language house owners fail to promote a stake within the app.
  • TikTok mentioned a divestment wouldn’t assist defend towards nationwide safety considerations.
The Biden administration has urged TikTok’s Chinese language house owners to divest their stakes within the standard video app or face a potential US ban, The Wall Road Journal reviews.
The transfer could be probably the most dramatic in a collection of latest strikes by US officers and lawmakers, who’ve raised fears that TikTok’s US consumer knowledge could possibly be leaked to the Chinese language authorities.
TikTok has greater than 100 million US customers.

The White Home declined to touch upon Wednesday.

TikTok spokeswoman Brooke Oberwetter mentioned in a press release to Reuters, “If defending nationwide safety is the aim, a divestiture doesn’t clear up the issue: a change in possession wouldn’t impose new restrictions on knowledge move or entry.”
TikTok boss Shou Zi Chew is ready to look earlier than the US Congress subsequent week.
Any US ban would face vital authorized hurdles. The Trump administration tried to ban TikTok in 2020 however was stymied by a collection of court docket rulings.

TikTok and the US Treasury Division-led Committee on Overseas Funding in the US (CFIUS) have been negotiating knowledge safety necessities for greater than two years. TikTok mentioned it has spent greater than $1.5 billion ($2.3 billion) on strict knowledge safety efforts and denies spy attachments.

The Wall Road Journal mentioned CFIU not too long ago made the sale request. A Treasury Division spokesman declined to remark.

TikTok mentioned Wednesday, “The easiest way to deal with nationwide safety considerations is clear, US-based safety of US consumer knowledge and methods with strong third-party monitoring, overview, and verification.”