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The US government has backed the legislation introduced by senators to give the administration new powers to ban Chinese-owned video app TikTok and other foreign-based technologies if they pose national security threats.
The endorsement boosts efforts by a number of lawmakers to ban the popular app, which is owned by Chinese company ByteDance.
TikTok has criticized the measure, in a statement saying any “U.S. ban on TikTok is a ban on the export of American culture and values to the billion-plus people who use our service worldwide.”
TikTok has come under increasing fire over fears that user data could end up in the hands of the Chinese government, undermining Western security interests.
White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan praised the bipartisan bill, saying it “would strengthen our ability to address discrete risks posed by individual transactions, and systemic risks posed by certain classes of transactions involving countries of concern in sensitive technology sectors.”
“We look forward to continue working with both Democrats and Republicans on this bill, and urge Congress to act quickly to send it to the President’s desk,” he said in a statement.
TikTok Chief Executive Shou Zi Chew is due to appear before US Congress on March 2 as lawmakers continue to scrutinize the Chinese-owned video-sharing app.
In the US alone, TikTok has been downloaded over 210 million times with 138 million monthly active users and last year it made USD6 billion in ad revenues
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