The White House has said that the popular video app risks being used as a spy tool by the Chinese regime, and Donald Trump has threatened a total ban. According to the president's employee Peter Navarro, the app can be banned as early as Sunday or Monday US time, Fox News reports.

Tiktok's owner, Chinese Bytedance, has previously announced that the app may be spun off, and even listed on the stock exchange. Prospective buyers include American Microsoft, but recent developments have created new question marks.

"Before Mr. Trump's statements (about bans), the two sides thought that the rough features of a deal could be ready by Monday," a source on the talks between Bytedance and Microsoft told The Wall Street Journal.

Ties to China are causing concern

According to the newspaper, the idea of ​​a sale is not completely dead, but the negotiators want more clarity about the US government's line before moving on.

Tiktok has quickly emerged as an extremely popular media app, especially among children and young people all over the world. But ties to the Chinese dictatorship are also causing concern.

Earlier this summer, the service was banned in India. In Europe, the Data Protection Board, EDPB, has chosen to set up a working group to get an idea of ​​the app's spread in the EU and to "coordinate potential measures".

Tiktok is one of the world's most downloaded apps with around 600 million users, where you can create and send short videos to each other. See more about Tiktok in the clip:

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The Tiktok app on your mobile. Photo: Gorm Kallestad