1/ The Biden administration threatened to ban TikTok if the app’s Chinese owners refuse to sell their stake in the U.S. version of the app. TikTok has been under scrutiny over fears that Beijing could request Americans’ data from its parent company, ByteDance, for more than two years. In 2020, the Trump Administration threatened to ban the app, citing national security concerns. Since then, the White House has been trying to negotiate an agreement with TikTok that would safeguard its data and eliminate the need for ByteDance to divest. TikTok, meanwhile, dismissed the threat, saying: “If protecting national security is the objective, divestment doesn’t solve the problem: a change in ownership would not impose any new restrictions on data flows or access. The best way to address concerns about national security is with the transparent, U.S.-based protection of U.S. user data and systems, with robust third-party monitoring, vetting, and verification, which we are already implementing.” TikTok is used by more than 100 million Americans. (Wall Street Journal / New York Times / Associated Press / NPR / NBC News / CNN / Washington Post / Axios)
This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://whatthefuckjusthappenedtoday.com/2023/03/16/day-786/