A bipartisan bill was introduced earlier this month that could ban TikTok across the United States.
TikTok’s American leadership is exploring a potential split with Chinese parent company ByteDance as it comes under increasing scrutiny from lawmakers over its links to the Chinese government, according to Bloomberg, though the move remains far from certain and would require Beijing’s approval.
Key Facts
TikTok, a social media video app, is in legal limbo with the US as the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States conducts a security review, which has reportedly thus far not assuaged regulators’ concerns about ByteDance’s connections with the Chinese Communist Party and the safety of Americans’ data.
A separation from ByteDance could lead to a sale or the company going public via an initial public offering, but Bloomberg reported the move is still seen as a last resort, citing sources with knowledge of talks.
TikTok and ByteDance did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Forbes.
Related
Background
Talk of a TikTok ban over concerns the Chinese government might use the app for surveillance of Americans dates back to the Trump administration. The concerns picked up steam last year after reports revealed China accessed private information from US users and planned to use TikTok to spy on certain Americans, including Forbes reporters.
A wave of states quickly moved to ban TikTok from government devices, while president Joe Biden signed a bill in December banning TikTok on most federally owned devices. Democrat senator Mark Warner introduced a bipartisan bill earlier this month that would let the Department of Commerce ban programs made in countries that pose an “undue or unacceptable risk” to the US, including China. Warner claimed the bill wasn’t designed to ban TikTok specifically, but he acknowledged that “everybody is talking about the company”, which he claimed 100 million Americans use for 90 minutes a day on average.
Canada, the UK and the EU already have banned TikTok from government phones.
In Australia, the Australian Electoral Commission forbids staff from downloading the app, among others, without permission, while the federal government is considering such a ban.
The NSW government is also considering a ban, the Guardian reported on March 14.
Contra
TikTok has launched a $1.5 billion lobbying effort, dubbed “Project Texas”, in response to regulator concerns, which has included inviting US tech company Oracle to examine its software, according to Bloomberg.
This story was first published on forbes.com and all figures are in USD.
