Could TikTok Soon be Banned in US
The popular social media app, TikTok has come under fire as news that data privacy is being leaked. On June 22, federal employees were barred from downloading and using the viral video app on government devices, according to Forbes.
Fox News stated that due to quarantine and stay-at-home orders, TikTok reported 30 million active users as of May between the ages of 16-24, and more quarterly downloads than any other app in history, according to analytics company Sensor Tower. This dramatic surge of usage in the past months is worrying the U.S. government, and is urging users not to download the app.
“It collects your geolocation in realtime, that is a problem for soldiers and military personnel because they can be identified by the Chinese government, it’s a problem for children, in fact, TikTok was fined by the Federal Trade Commission for illegally collecting child information…also for your beliefs, they wanted to censor those videos [on Hong Kong],” said Roslyn Layton, co-founder of Chinatechthreat.comsaid in an interview with Fox News.
TikTok is owned by Beijing owned startup ByteDance, and has been claimed to be a threat to national security by government officials, according to CNN.
TikTok has denied all allegations of data stealing and told Fox News, “TikTok is led by an American CEO, with hundreds of employees and key leaders across safety, security, product, and public policy here in the U.S. We have no higher priority than promoting a safe and secure app experience for our users. We have never provided user data to the Chinese government, nor would we do so if asked.”
Despite denying these claims, the U.S. is not the only country keeping the app at arm’s length. CNN reported that India has already banned the app, and the UK is not far behind. The Economictimes.com stated that a TikTok ban would “leave a giant social media hole,” forcing fans to flock to similar apps like Triller.
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