TikTok is still moving forward with its plan to put up a firewall around US user data. The Chinese Commerce Ministry came out and said any kind of sale would have to be approved by the Chinese government. Senator John Thune hopes this hearing shakes loose support for his legislation that could result in a TikTok ban.
There’s at least one thing Democrats and Republicans in Washington have in common: suspicions about TikTok’s ties to China. The Biden administration and members of congress from both parties are urging the social media platform’s Beijing-based parent company, ByteDance Ltd., to sell its stake in TikTok or risk being banned in the US.
Sound familiar? That’s because two and a half years ago, former President Trump sent a very similar warning that ultimately went nowhere.
Bloomberg reporters Alex Barinka and Anna Edgerton join this episode to talk about this latest chapter in the standoff between the US government and TikTok. Plus, what a congressional hearing with TikTok’s CEO revealed about national security concerns surrounding the app.
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