Western powers, including the European Union and the United States, have been taking an increasingly tough approach to the app, citing fears that user data could be used or abused by Chinese officials.
"If protecting national security is the objective, calls for a ban or divestment are unnecessary, as neither option solves the broader industry issues of data access and transfer," a TikTok spokesperson told AFP.
"We remain confident that the best path forward to addressing concerns about national security is transparent, US-based protection of US user data and systems, with robust third-party monitoring, vetting, and verification."
The Wall Street Journal and other US news outlets on Wednesday reported that the White House set an ultimatum: if TikTok remains a part of ByteDance, it will be banned in the United States.
"This is all a game of high stakes poker," Wedbush analyst Dan Ives said in a note to investors.
Washington is "clearly... putting more pressure on ByteDance to strategically sell this key asset in a major move that could have significant ripple impacts," he continued.
The White House last week welcomed a bill introduced in the US Senate that would allow President Joe Biden to ban TikTok.
The bipartisan bill "would empower the United States government to prevent certain foreign governments from exploiting technology services... in a way that poses risks to Americans' sensitive data and our national security," Biden's national security advisor, Jake Sullivan, said in a statement.
Its introduction and its quick White House backing accelerated the political momentum against TikTok, which is also the target of a separate piece of legislation in the US House of Representatives.
China called on the US Thursday to "stop unreasonably suppressing" TikTok, saying the curbs reflect a business environment that discriminates against foreign companies.
"Data security issues should not be used as a tool for some countries to overstretch the concept of national security, abuse state power and unjustifiably suppress other countries' enterprises," foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said at a daily press briefing.
"The US has so far failed to produce evidence that TikTok threatens US national security."
Appearing tough on China is one of the rare issues with potential for bipartisan support in both the Republican-run House and the Senate, where Biden's Democratic Party holds the majority.
Concern ramped up among American officials earlier this year after a Chinese balloon, which Washington alleged was on a spy mission, flew through US airspace.
- TikTok use rocketing -
TikTok claims it has more than a billion users worldwide including over 100 million in the United States, where it has become a cultural force, especially among young people.
Activists argue a ban would be an attack on free speech, and stifle the export of American culture and values to TikTok users around the world.
US government workers in January were banned from installing TikTok on their government-issued devices.
Civil servants in the European Union and Canada are also barred from downloading the app on their work devices.
According to the Journal report, the ultimatum to TikTok came from the US interagency board charged with assessing risks foreign investments represent to national security.
US officials declined to comment on the report.
TikTok has consistently denied sharing data with Chinese officials, and says it has been working with the US authorities for more than two years to address national security concerns.
Time spent by users on TikTok has surpassed that spent on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram or Twitter and is closing in on streaming television titan Netflix, according to market tracker Insider Intelligence.
One billion users, but trouble mounts for TikTok
Paris (AFP) March 16, 2023 -
TikTok's breakneck rise from niche video-sharing app to global social media behemoth has brought plenty of scrutiny, particularly over its links to China.
Several governments have banned the app from their equipment over fears that data could be viewed by officials in Beijing, and the United States is now trying to force Chinese parent company ByteDance to sell its prized asset.
So is TikTok a spying tool for Beijing, a fun video-sharing app, or both?
- Under pressure -
Global action against TikTok kicked off in earnest in India in 2020.
It was among the Chinese apps barred after deadly clashes on the border between India and China, with New Delhi saying it was defending its sovereignty.
The same year, US President Donald Trump threatened a ban and accused TikTok of spying for China, an idea that has gained ground in Washington.
TikTok has admitted ByteDance employees in China accessed details of American accounts but it has always denied turning over data to the Chinese authorities.
The company tried to soothe fears over data in the United States and European Union, promising to eventually store data of local users on local servers.
But the US federal government and the European Commission have both now banned the app from their employees' devices.
And the US is pushing even harder, with a threat to ban the app outright unless TikTok separates from ByteDance -- echoing the threat made by Trump.
- One billion users -
Bans have not halted TikTok's growth.
With more than one billion active users it is the sixth most used social platform in the world, according to the We Are Social marketing agency.
Although it lags behind the likes of Meta's long-dominant trio of Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram, its growth among young people far outstrips its competitors.
Almost a third of TikTok users are between 10 and 19 years old, according to the Wallaroo agency.
Its rapid rise saw it grab more than $11 billion in advertising revenue last year, a threefold increase in a single year.
TikTok's competitors quickly copied its short video format and continuous scrolling, but to little avail.
- Creator appeal -
TikTok's editing features and powerful algorithm have kept it ahead of the game, attracting an army of creators and influencers.
But the algorithm is opaque and often accused of leading users into digital content silos.
TikTok and ByteDance employees also manually increase the number of views on certain content, executives reportedly admitting that they boosted content related to last year's World Cup and Taylor Swift's debut on the platform.
TikTok has said manual promotion only affects a tiny fraction of recommended videos.
- Disinformation -
The app is regularly accused of spreading disinformation, putting users in danger with hazardous "challenge" videos, and allowing pornography, even though it is supposed to prohibit nudity.
French news site Numerama reported a TikTok "trend" recently that involved publishing photographs of penises.
Several children have also reportedly died while trying to replicate the so-called blackout challenge, which involves users holding their breath until they pass out.
And around one-fifth of videos on topical issues such as the Russian invasion of Ukraine were found to be fake or misleading, according to a study by misinformation group NewsGuard.
AFP, along with more than a dozen fact-checking organisations, is paid by TikTok to verify videos that potentially contain false information. The videos are removed by TikTok if the information is shown to be false by AFP teams.
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