U.S. threatens a nationwide ban on TikTok

According to several media reports, the U.S. government has demanded that TikTok's Chinese owners sell shares or face a potential nationwide ban.

This development is the latest move by the Biden administration to potentially block the video-sharing app in the US amid fears of its user data being shared with the Chinese government and a potential threat to its national security.

This is not the first time the social media giant is facing regulatory pushback in the U.S. TikTok, which had 94 million users in the U.S., as of 2022, according to data from Statista, has already been banned on all federal devices and systems in up to 30 states in the country.

Some lawmakers in the country have even filed for a complete nationwide ban.

China through its foreign ministry responded to the White House's demands, accusing the U.S. of a lack of evidence of TikTok's threat to its national security and added that the U.S. should stop spreading disinformation about data security and provide an open, fair and non-discriminatory environment for foreign businesses to invest and operate in the country.

Globally, TikTok continues to be under pressure, as the UK,  Canada, Belgium, Netherlands and even the European Commission have all issued a ban on the Chinese app on their government devices.