As the US Senate prepares to approve the TikTok ban, FBI chief Christopher Wray on Tuesday highlighted security concerns about the popular Chinese application, reports AFP.
Ray said that TikTok’s parent company ByteDance is “indebted to the Chinese government” which is “trying to steal our AI and hacking American technology every day”.
Americans should think that TikTok’s “power, access, capabilities, control” are in the hands of the Chinese government and the intelligence services, Ray said in an interview with NBC News.
Ray echoed concerns that TikTok poses a threat to national security of the USA.
TikTok categorically denied sharing any user information with the Chinese government.
The US has issued an ultimatum to TikTok
The Senate will have the final say
Its passage is all but certain after the House of Representatives — after months of debate — approved the long-awaited bill with strong bipartisan support.
The ultimate package contains a measure to ban TikTok if it doesn’t stop soon its ties to Chinese parent company ByteDance.
The popular app has come under scrutiny from congressmen for influencing the Chinese government. His supporters denounced the ban as a violation of free speech.
The bill will give ByteDance up to a year to sell TikTok or the app will be banned in the United States, according to Wedbush analyst Dan Ives.
Likely buyers of TikTok are Microsoft or Oracle, the analyst said in a note to investors.
“The broader concern is that retaliation from China could come from this forced sale/ban on TikTok and add more pressure to regulatory and geopolitical headwinds facing US companies in mainland China,” Ives added.
TikTok advertisers will turn to competitors if the US bans the app
TikTok will generate about $8.66 billion in ad revenue in the US this year
Meta is expected to be the biggest beneficiary of TikTok’s ban, with fans of the app turning to Facebook or Instagram.
