NPR

Will TikTok Be Banned In The USA? It May Depend On Who Owns It

The White House is considering a number of economic sanctions to cut off the hugely popular Chinese-owned app from U.S. users over national security concerns.

TikTok is contemplating ways to distance itself from its Chinese parent company as threats from Washington grow louder.

Congress this week advanced legislation to block federal employees from using TikTok on government-issued devices. The Trump administration is considering ways to push the video-sharing app, beloved by teens and 20-somethings, out of the U.S. altogether.

TikTok is owned by the Chinese technology giant ByteDance. And while TikTok has taken steps to distance itself from its Beijing parent company, both the Trump administration and some Republicans and Democrats in Congress fear the Chinese Communist Party could use TikTok as a tool to spy on Americans as a national security threat.

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