The Federal Trade Commission and the US Department of Justice are looking into allegations that the famous Chinese application TikTok failed to abide by the 2019 agreement that aims to protect children's privacy, paving the way for its prohibition in the United States.
Since its launch, Tic Tok has become one of the most popular applications, with nearly a billion active users, and the massive popularity of the application has witnessed the rise of celebrities on its platform, which other similar platforms could not achieve, however this success may face a major obstacle, as it appears that the United States government Looking to block the app completely.
The FTC's investigation is the latest clash that the short video company faces with the US government, which is popular with teenagers.
The company was audited by the Foreign Investment Committee - which focuses on national security in the United States - because of its Chinese dependency.
The Center for Digital Democracy, the Campaign for a Trade-Free Childhood and others last May asked the Federal Trade Commission to consider their allegations about Tik Tok's failure to delete videos and personal information about users ages 13 and under.
David Mounahan, director of the campaign for the FTC, said that officials from both the FTC - which had reached the original approval agreement with Tik Tok - and the Justice Department - which often provided court documents to the committee - had met over the video with representatives of the two groups to discuss the matter.
"I understood from our conversation that they are looking at the assurances that we have made in our complaint," Monahan added, and the FTC declined to comment. The Ministry of Justice had no immediate comment.
Are Pompeo's comments the reason?
In an interview with Fox News Monday, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo proposed banning tuk-tuk and other Chinese social media applications.
Pompeo stressed that the ban on Tik Tok is something the US government is contemplating. "Regarding Chinese applications on people's mobile phones, I can assure you that the United States will get this one too," he said.
There is some concern that Tik Tok poses a threat to national security, with some believing that the app can be used to collect data on US citizens for the Chinese government.
US lawmakers also raised national security concerns about Tik Tok's handling of user data, saying they are concerned about Chinese laws that require the support and cooperation of local CPC companies.
Tik Tok, for its part, issued a statement saying, "Tik Tok is leading an American CEO with hundreds of key employees and leaders in the areas of safety and security."
"We have no higher priority than promoting a safe and secure application experience for our users, we have not provided user data to the Chinese government, and we will not do so if requested," an application spokesman said in a statement.
The crackdown on Tik Tok, owned by Chinese company "ByteDance", is one of several campaigns targeting China-based companies that have found themselves at the center of the growing tensions between the United States and China over trade, technology and the Corona epidemic.