Tiktok Us Ban: Regulatory hurdles, breaches of users’ data privacy, and national security concerns are some of the key reasons why TikTok is facing the ire of different governments.
The US government has asked TikTok-parent to divest its shares in the popular short video-app platform failing which it might be staring at a ban in the country with over 100 million users.The situation is similar in many other countries, which have either banned the app like India or have increased their scrutiny on its functioning, citing national security concerns and passing of consumer data into the hands of Chinese authorities.ETtech tries to answer some questions about TikTok and a looming threat of a ban.Why is TikTok facing the ire of different governments & regulators?They fear the data collected by the platform will be passed on to Chinese authorities since Bytedance, a Chinese internet company, owns TikTok. In December last year, FBI director Christopher Wray warned that TikTok’s privacy and data collection policies could allow for the capture of sensitive, personally identifiable information.What is happening between TikTok and the US government?TikTok is embroiled in a difficult battle with the US government and different US regulators, with most of them strongly suggesting a blanket ban on the app. A White House-backed Bill was introduced by a dozen senators to give the Joe Biden administration new powers to ban Chinese-owned video app TikTok and other foreign-based technologies if they pose national security threats.The Bill would give the Commerce Department the ability to impose restrictions up to and including banning TikTok and other technologies that pose national security risks said Democratic Senator Mark Warner,In addition, the US government’s Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), a powerful national security body, in 2020 unanimously recommended ByteDance divest TikTok because of fears that user data could be passed on to China’s government, and has been at the forefront of executing the ban.
