The House of Representatives is due to consider a bill this week requiring ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok, to sell the application. The short video platform TikTok is now used by 170 million Americans.
US lawmakers cite threat to national security. They say they fear that personal data collected by TikTok will be used by Chinese intelligence. TikTok collects information in exchange for free services which it uses for commercial purposes. But unlike its competitors, the platform is owned by a Chinese company, ByteDances, which the American authorities accuse of cooperating with the communist regime.