The Biden administration has demanded the Chinese house owners of TikTok to promote their stakes within the standard video-sharing app or threat it being banned within the US, an area media outlet reported Wednesday.
The demand was made by the US Treasury-led Committee on Foreign Investment within the United States (CFIUS), The Wall Street Journal reported, citing sources accustomed to the matter, calling the transfer a “major shift” within the administration’s coverage towards TikTok.
It reported that 60% of TikTok guardian firm ByteDance’s shares are owned by world buyers, 20% by workers and 20% by its founders, citing TikTok executives.
TikTok responded by saying that the sale is not going to tackle the perceived safety threat.
“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 spokeswoman Brooke Oberwetter mentioned in a press release.
“The best way to address concerns about national security is with the transparent, U.S.-based protection of U.S. user data and systems, with robust third-party monitoring, vetting and verification, which we are already implementing,” Oberwetter added.
The White House have but to touch upon the report.
Having launched in 2016, the Chinese-owned video-sharing app turned massively standard internationally lately, reaching 755 million world customers in 2022.
Two-thirds of American teenagers are actually TikTok customers.
But it has been criticized for permitting the Chinese authorities to entry customers’ delicate private knowledge, together with location and shopping historical past.
Source: www.anews.com.tr
