The US administration is under intense pressure from Republicans and Democrats to protect the country from potential security threats posed by the Chinese ownership of the famous "Tik Tok" application.
What is the White House plan?
- Democrats close to the White House are worried that Biden will face "political problems" if he bans the app, which is used by more than 150 million people in America.
- For this purpose, the US authorities are considering not banning TikTok in the United States, but on one condition, according to what was revealed by the American “Axios” website.
- The condition relates to forcing the Chinese Internet technology company, ByteDance, the owner of TikTok, to sell the application to another company.
How did the Chinese government respond?
- On Thursday, the Chinese government announced its intention to oppose the plan, warning that such a move would hurt investor confidence in the United States.
- "If this news is true, China will resolutely oppose it," said Xu Jieting, a spokeswoman for the Chinese Ministry of Commerce.
- "The compulsory sale will seriously harm investors from several countries, including China. This will damage investment confidence in the United States," she added.
- Xu did not say what Beijing might do.
What is the cause of concern of the US administration?
- The governments of several countries, including the United States, are concerned that ByteDance could give browsing history or other data related to users to the Chinese government, or promote propaganda and misleading information.
- The TikTok application is one of the causes of conflicts between China and other governments over technology and security.
- Xu Ziqiu, CEO of TikTok, is set to speak Thursday before a US congressional committee to prove why the hugely popular app has not been banned.
- The United States, Britain and the Parliament of New Zealand have banned TikTok on government-issued phones.
The owner of Tik Tok responds
According to written testimony released by the US House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Committee, Chi Chu, CEO of TikTok, will say Thursday:
- The short video application has not and will not share its users' data with the Chinese government.
- TikTok will not pay attention to such a request if it ever receives it.
- ByteDance is not owned or controlled by any government entity.
- I say this unequivocally: ByteDance is not an agent of China or any other country.
Confusion among advertisers
- Advertisers seek reassurance from TikTok.
- Advertisers will be closely watching the TikTok CEO's testimony to Congress for the first time on Thursday.
- Advertisers will want to know what's new about a possible ban, as well as follow the reactions of MPs.
- A TikTok spokesperson said the company and advertisers have "an open, continuous, fact-based dialogue that includes providing regular updates and answers to questions about how we are working to build a trusted entertainment platform for users and brands."
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