Is TikTok a National Security Threat?
The battle between the U.S. government and China's ByteDance over the latter's ownership of the video-sharing platform TikTok is finally coming to a head.
The Department of Justice asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia on December 11 to reject ByteDance's latest attempt to block a law that will force it to divest from TikTok or face a ban in January 2025.
TikTok is hugely popular with Americans, especially those who are younger. In January 2024, TikTok CEO Shou Chew claimed it had over 170 million active users in the U.S.
The U.S. is concerned that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), which rules China and is actively involved in businesses seen as strategically significant, would use TikTok as a kind of Trojan Horse to undermine American national security.
