Washington.— The Biden administration wants the owner of TikTok, who is Chinese, to sell the app or face a possible ban, TikTok said Wednesday, as the White House is toughening its stance to address national security concerns about it. to that popular video service.
The new demand for the app to be sold was made to TikTok in recent weeks, two people with knowledge of the matter said.
TikTok is owned by the Chinese internet company ByteDance.
The move is a significant shift in the Biden administration’s stance toward TikTok, which has come under scrutiny over fears that Beijing could solicit information about Americans using the app.
The White House is trying to broker a deal with TikTok in which it could apply new security measures for your information and remove the need for ByteDance to sell its shares of the app.
However, the demand for the sale — along with support for proposed White House legislation that would ban the use of TikTok in the United States — toughens the administration’s strategy.
This represents a return to the stance of former President Donald J. Trump, who threatened to ban TikTok unless it was sold to a US company.
TikTok said it is weighing the options and is disappointed by that decision.
The company said that its security proposal, which involves the storage of information of Americans in the United States, offered the best protection for its users.
TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew is set to appear before the House Committee on Energy and Commerce next week.
It is expected to face questions about the app’s links to China, as well as concerns that it delivers content that is harmful to young people.
Spokesmen for the White House, the Treasury Department and the Justice Department declined to comment on the matter.
