The Joe Biden government, in another twist in pressure on Beijing, is requiring TikTok’s Chinese owners to sell the popular app or face a possible ban in the United States, the company said Wednesday. This demand is nothing more than the verification of the concern for national security that exists in the White House in the face of the possibility that it is an espionage tool.
This initiative was raised recently. The movement means the biggest change in policy of the current Washington administration, under fire from Republicans who accused the executive branch of not acting tough enough in the face of the threat of this application. TikTok, with more than 100 million users in the US, is owned by Chinese internet company ByteDance.
This company is under scrutiny for fear that Beijing may require data on the users of the popular application. After the threats launched by then-President Donald Trump, the current tenant of the White House opened a new stage of negotiations to seek an agreement that would allow new safeguards for that information in exchange for eliminating the need for ByteDance to sell its shares in the app.
According to TikTok executives, 60% of ByteDance’s shares are held by global investors, 20% by employees and the other 20% by the founders, although they have more weight on the boards. The company was founded in Beijing in 2012.
The sale petition, along with government support for legislation that would ban TikTok in the United States, represents a turnaround and a hardening of the White House’s position.
Jake Sullivan, national security adviser, praised the bill put forward by a dozen senators from both parties.
“This law would strengthen our ability to address the discrete risk posed by individual transactions and systemic risks developed by certain classes of transactions involving countries with interests in sensitive technology sectors,” Sullivan remarked.
All this talk is going back to the days of Trump, who threatened to ban the app unless it was sold to a US company. The courts blocked this proposal.
But now the Treasury Department’s committee on foreign investment (CFIU) is in favor of the sale or ban, and those responsible for the application were made aware of this.
“If the goal is national security, divestment does not solve the problem. A change in ownership would not impose new restrictions on data flows or access,” Brook Oberwetter, a TikTok spokesperson, said in a statement.
“The best way to resolve security concerns is with transparency, with the protections put in place by the United States on the use of data and systems, and with powerful third party monitoring, investigation and verification, which is already in place. ”Oberwetter said.
TikTok Chairman Shou Zi Chew is scheduled to appear before a US Congressional committee. It seems more than clear that the Chinese government will not approve any divestment. Any ban will face numerous legal hurdles.
In this way, TikTok is placed in the middle of the confrontation between the US administration and the government of Beijing on technology and economic leadership, as well as on issues of national security. Biden has opted for a broad campaign against China with large funding for programs to encourage domestic production of semiconductors, electric vehicles and lithium batteries.
Lisa Monaco, deputy head of the Justice Department, and other senior officials have repeatedly cited Chinese security laws, which require them to hand over user data if required, fueling concerns about misuse of that information.
“Our intelligence community is aware of China’s efforts and intent to shape the use of technology to collect data in a world that is completely inconsistent with our own,” Monaco said.
