FMT:
US threatens TikTok ban if Chinese owners don’t sell stake
The move would be the most dramatic in a series of recent steps.
TikTok has more than 100 million US users. (AP pic)
WASHINGTON: The Biden administration has demanded TikTok’s Chinese owners divest their stake in the popular video app or face a possible US ban, the Wall Street Journal reported, according to people familiar with the matter.
The move would be the most dramatic in a series of recent steps by US officials and legislators who have raised fears that TikTok’s US user data could be passed on to China’s government. TikTok has more than 100 million US users.
The White House declined to comment.
TikTok spokesman Brooke Oberwetter said in a statement to Reuters that “if protecting national security is the objective, divestment doesn’t solve the problem: a change in ownership would not impose any new restrictions on data flows or access.”
TikTok chief executive Shou Zi Chew is due to appear before the US Congress next week.
Any US ban would face significant legal hurdles. The Trump administration sought in 2020 to ban TikTok but was stymied by a series of court rulings.
TikTok and the US Treasury-led Committee on Foreign Investment in the US(CFIUS) have been negotiating for more than two years on data security requirements. TikTok said it has spent more than US$1.5 billion on rigorous data security efforts and rejects spying allegations. The Wall Street Journal said CFIU made the sale demand recently. A Treasury spokesperson declined to comment.
TikTok said on Wednesday that “the best way to address concerns about national security is with the transparent, US-based protection of US user data and systems, with robust third-party monitoring, vetting, and verification.”
WASHINGTON: The Biden administration has demanded TikTok’s Chinese owners divest their stake in the popular video app or face a possible US ban, the Wall Street Journal reported, according to people familiar with the matter.
The move would be the most dramatic in a series of recent steps by US officials and legislators who have raised fears that TikTok’s US user data could be passed on to China’s government. TikTok has more than 100 million US users.
The White House declined to comment.
TikTok spokesman Brooke Oberwetter said in a statement to Reuters that “if protecting national security is the objective, divestment doesn’t solve the problem: a change in ownership would not impose any new restrictions on data flows or access.”
TikTok chief executive Shou Zi Chew is due to appear before the US Congress next week.
Any US ban would face significant legal hurdles. The Trump administration sought in 2020 to ban TikTok but was stymied by a series of court rulings.
TikTok and the US Treasury-led Committee on Foreign Investment in the US(CFIUS) have been negotiating for more than two years on data security requirements. TikTok said it has spent more than US$1.5 billion on rigorous data security efforts and rejects spying allegations. The Wall Street Journal said CFIU made the sale demand recently. A Treasury spokesperson declined to comment.
TikTok said on Wednesday that “the best way to address concerns about national security is with the transparent, US-based protection of US user data and systems, with robust third-party monitoring, vetting, and verification.”
The big problem is Tik Tok collects the most private and personal information on the habits and interests of millions of youngsters.
ReplyDeleteInformation that even their parents may not reslise. Some inevitably become vulnerable to blackmail or coercion.
Today's teenager could someday be tomorrow's Four Star General, Senior Government or Business leader or Top Engineer or Scientist.
The Chinese Communist Party has its controlling hands on the most effective espionage tool in the world.
Mfer, u know how Tiptok user-push algorithm or For You Page (FYP) works?
DeleteOr is this the first time u ever hear of this jargon?
FYP is at the core of the young user popularity. It has NOTHING to do with private and personal information. Rather it tracks the patterns of habits and interests of millions of youngsters via NUMBER of page views & duration of stay.
These data r hardly potential surveillance core bcoz as the youth grow up, their interests & preferences - social/political/religions/ideologies change with time.
These changes in variations through time make these data only temporary flashes in the growing up phases. Hardly permanent marking!
But they r VERY GOOD at trench prediction & setting within given timeframe &/or period.
Yet, just bcoz of this effective duration constrain TikTok can never function as a trojan espionage tool as the hidden back door app of Apple phones!