The US government has informed Chinese company ByteDance that if it does not sell TikTok, the popular app may be banned in the United States. Several American newspapers reported this, and the company confirmed the news.
The app is seen as a threat by some policymakers in Western countries because of its ties with China. Following the downing of a mysterious Chinese balloon over the US, banning Tiktok has come to life again.
ByteDance has always denied that the Chinese government can access TikTok user data. The company also says that divesting Tiktok would not change anything in terms of data flows. It says it is rolling out measures itself, such as third-party verifications. TikTok has more than 100 million users in the United States.
In response, the Chinese government has already called on the US to stop the “unjustified attacks” against the app. However, Washington “has not yet provided any evidence that TikTok threatens US national security,” said Wang Wenbin, China’s foreign ministry spokesman.
