Washington Chooses ByteDance; TikTok to be Sold or Banned

In light of the raging war of criticism TikTok is facing in the US and elsewhere, especially in Europe, due to its association with the Chinese government, the US government has asked ByteDance to sell its stake in the widespread application or face a ban in America.

This ultimatum came to “Tik Tok” from the US agency in charge of assessing the risks posed by foreign investments for national security, according to what was reported by the “Wall Street Journal”.

“It won’t solve the problem”

However, TikTok spokeswoman Brooke Oberwater pointed out in response to this “bitter choice” that the forced sale would not solve the problem or address the perceived security risks. “If the goal is to protect national security, divestment won’t solve the problem,” he said in a note, adding that the change in ownership would not impose new restrictions on data flow or access.

These developments come days after the Republican and Democratic parties introduced a bill in the US Senate that would allow President Joe Biden to ban TikTok.

This project has been welcomed by the White House, according to the announcement in a statement last week from US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, saying at the time: “The bipartisan bill would allow the US government to prevent some foreign governments from exploiting technology services in a way that poses a threat to Americans’ sensitive data.” And our national security.”

Another law against him

Support for the bill in the Senate and the White House has strengthened the political momentum against TikTok, against which it is in also preparing another bill in the House of Representatives.

Hardline anti-China bills are rare with bipartisan support in Congress, where Republicans dominate the House of Representatives and Democrats in the Senate.

Interestingly, Western powers, including the European Union and the United States, had taken a firm stance on the application lately, out of fear of misuse of user data by Chinese officials.

In contrast, TikTok, which has more than 1 billion users in worldwide, including more than 100 million in the United States, say that users’ data is protected.

He also denies constantly sharing his data with the Chinese government and says he has been working with Washington for about two years to address its national security concerns.

However, fears about him have grown recently in America, especially after the spy balloon crisis, which has reinforced the hostile attitudes of many politicians towards Beijing and its efforts to hack the data of citizens and officials.

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