Cut off all your ties with China or we’ll shut you down, America warns TikTok
THE future of TikTok in the US hangs in the balance after politicians moved a step closer to banning the social media app over security fears.
US President Joe Biden yesterday signed into law a bill that gives the platform’s Chinese owner, ByteDance, nine months to sell its stake.
If it fails to do so, its 170 million American users will be blocked from watching videos.
TikTok has vowed to fight the order in court, warning: ‘Rest assured – we aren’t going anywhere’. Experts last night said the ban would worsen tensions between the West and parts of Asia – particularly if other nations follow their example.
The move comes as TikTok voluntarily suspended a new feature on its app in France and Spain that encouraged people to watch more videos.
The European Commission had given it until yesterday to address its concerns over
TikTok Lite’s reward programme, which it had called ‘as addictive as cigarettes’.
American politicians were concerned the data of millions of TikTok users could be accessed by the Chinese state under national security laws to help them spy on the country.
Their fears have been backed by the director of the FBI, Christopher Wray, who further warned its algorithm could be controlled by Beijing to influence and manipulate the public. TikTok has always denied the
Chinese government has attempted to access US user data – and said it would reject any such request.
However, Mr Biden signed into law a bill that gave ByteDance 270 days to sell TikTok.
With the price tag likely to be in the tens of billions, it is unclear who could buy it.
TikTok boss Shou Zi Chew posted a video directed at the US public in which he said: ‘Make no mistake, this is a ban. A ban on TikTok and a ban on you and your voice.’