A United States senator has said that a proposal to ban the popular short-form video hosting service TikTok in the country ''should be looked at''. According to a CNN report, Senator Chuck Schumer cited Chinese ownership of the company behind the video-sharing platform and said a ban on the popular app should be considered. He added that some members of the Senate Commerce Committee were exploring the idea.
"We do know there's Chinese ownership of the company that owns TikTok. And there are some people in the Commerce Committee that are looking into that right now, We'll see where they come out, Mr Schumer, the Senate majority leader, told George Stephanopoulos of ABC News in a Sunday interview.
Mr. Schumer's words come after the United States shot down a Chinese spy balloon off the coast of the Carolinas.
Meanwhile, US lawmakers Marco Rubio, and Angus King said on Friday they had reintroduced new legislation that aims to ban TikTok from operating in the United States, unless it cut ties to its current owner, as per CNN.
Many US officials have also raised concerns that China could use its laws to pressure TikTok or ByteDance to hand over US user data that could be used for intelligence or disinformation purposes. Owing to these fears, more than half of all US states have partially or fully banned TikTok from government devices.
However, on several occasions, TikTok has negated the claims, saying it doesn't share information with the Chinese government.
As per CBS News, TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew is set to testify before the House Energy and Commerce Committee in March about the social media platform's consumer privacy and data security practices. The company stated that they ''welcome the opportunity to set the record straight'' about American security concerns.
Notably, the Beijing-based company Bytedance owns the popular social media app. In India, the app was banned on June 29, 2020, over national security issues. The government move came amid escalating tensions between India and China over the June 15 clash in Ladakh in which 20 Indian soldiers were killed in action.
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