US government threatens TikTok ban unless Chinese owners divest

The US has more than a 100 million TikTok users with many being GenZ. Source: www.pixabay.com

This comes after a bill was introduced to allow US President Joe Biden to ban technologies touted as a threat to national security by the US Commerce Department.

The ultimatum is seen as the most dramatic move by US officials and legislators, as the country fears that US user data held by the business could be shared with China’s government.

The US has already banned TikTok on federal government devices but this is the first time under Biden’s administration that a national ban has been threatened. Biden’s predecessor Donald Trump threatened to ban TikTok in 2020 but was stopped by the courts.

TikTok has more than a 100 million users in the US and is touted as one of the worlds most popular apps.

Joe Biden takes further steps to ban TikTok in US

8 Mar 2023

“Today, the threat that everyone is talking about is TikTok, and how it could enable surveillance by the Chinese Communist Party, or facilitate the spread of malign influence campaigns in the US,” said Senator Mark Warner said in a statement.

TikTok and national security body CFIUS, have been in talks for more than two years on data security requirements. TikTok said due to concerns it has spent more than $1.5bn on implementing strong data security and said there is no basis for spying allegations.

TikTok’s CEO, Shou Zi Chew, is expected to appear before the US Congress next week.