TikTok Could Be Forced To Sell Its US Operations

TikTok could be forced to sell its US operations as the social media company is now under pressure from the Biden-led administration as they continue to scrutinize Chinese ownership. The social media firm could now be facing a very much likely push to sell its operations in the United States in a bid to eliminate influence from the Chinese government.

TikTok Could Be Forced To Sell Its US Operations

TikTok Could Be Forced To Sell Its US Operations

The Chinese owners of the social media platform TikTok may be at the moment facing pressure to divest. Security concerns about the well-known social media platform have now made some officials of the Biden administration push for a sale of the US operations of the company “to ensure Beijing cant harness the app for espionage and political influence, as per a new report from the wall street journal citing unnamed sources.

The Reason Behind the Idea of a Forced Sale

The main idea of a pushed sale was raised by the committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, with representatives from the department of justice and the pentagon pushing for a sale. Among the major concerns however is the idea that TikTok could be used by the Chinese government, which as you should have known by now is owned by Chinese company ByteDance, in a bid to get information on US users as well as also dictate the type of content that is not shown on the platform “in a bid to influence US popular opinion.”

TikTok Has Been Working With the CFIUS for Over Two Years Now

TikTok has stated that it has been working with the CFIUS for more than two years now in order to address “all reasonable national security concerns” in regard to the company and that it has also made significant progress in addressing concerns about corporate governance, recommendation of the content and its moderation, as well as data security and access.

“We believe those concerns can be fully resolved,” the social media company said in a statement, also adding that in working hand to hand with CFIUS, it has put measures in place that are “well beyond what any peer company is doing today.”

The Concerns for National Security Have Been Picked Up In Recent Weeks

And in the most recent weeks, the concerns for national security have been picked up a notch. In the early parts of this month, a report suggested that negotiations between the Biden-led administration and the app over its operations in the US would be put on hold due to the fact of national security.

The app as you should recall has now been banned from being used on devices that are issued by the government or on networks in some states in the US including Georgia and Virginia, with some universities in Alabama, Georgia, and Oklahoma similarly preventing its access on campus networks and computers.

Previous TikTok Concerns over National Security

Concerns about the ownership of TikTok and national security are not something new as it has been around for some time now. the Trump-led administration unsuccessfully pushed for banning the social media app in the united states.

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