U.S. Opens National Security Investigation Into Chinese-Owned App TikTok

Last month I asked @USTreasury to conduct a CFIUS review of @tiktok_us. Because any platform owned by a company in #China which collects massive amounts of data on Americans is a potential serious threat to our country.

https://t.co/iCvizN8Vhf

— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) November 1, 2019

CNBC/Reuters: US opens national security investigation into TikTok

* The U.S. government will investigate Beijing-based TikTok owner ByteDance’s acquisition of social media app Musical.ly.
* TikTok has been growing more popular among U.S. teenagers at a time of growing tensions between the U.S. and China over trade and technology transfers.
* Last month, Musical.ly founder Alex Zhu, who heads the TikTok team, started to report directly to ByteDance CEO Zhang Yiming.

The U.S. government has launched a national security review of TikTok owner Beijing ByteDance’s $1 billion acquisition of U.S. social media app Musical.ly, according to two people familiar with the matter.

While the $1 billion acquisition was completed two years ago, U.S. lawmakers have been calling in recent weeks for a national security probe into TikTok, concerned the Chinese company may be censoring politically sensitive content, and raising questions about how it stores personal data.

TikTok has been growing more popular among U.S. teenagers at a time of growing tensions between the United States and China over trade and technology transfers. About 60% of TikTok’s 26.5 million monthly active users in the United States are between the ages of 16 and 24, the company said earlier this year.

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More News On The U.S. Opening A National Security Investigation Into Chinese-Owned App TikTok

TikTok video app reportedly under review as national security threat -- CBS/AP
TikTok Said to Be Under National Security Review -- The New York Times
US 'investigating TikTok as potential national security risk' -- The Guardian
US opens national security probe of Chinese-owned app TikTok: report -- AFP
TikTok owner scrutinised over Musical.ly deal -- BBC
US launches national security review of Chinese-owned app TikTok: report -- The Hill
TikTok's parent company reportedly faces a national security review -- Endgadget
TikTok could be the next social platform plagued with disinformation -- Quartz