The famous TikTok application has returned to the forefront of the American political debate after senators called for the application to be removed from the Google and Apple stores.
According to the Fox website, Senator Michael Bennett has sent letters to Google and Apple executives urging them to remove the app from their companies' app stores. The news comes on the heels of a series of recent calls from US politicians urging the Biden administration to act quickly to enact strict laws on the data the app collects from its US users or over concerns that data could be stolen from the app. It was completely removed from the store in connection with the relations between the Chinese company and the Beijing government.
Attempts to ban the application in the United States have been going on since the days of former US President Donald Trump, who wanted to ban the application for reasons of national security amid his government’s fears that the Chinese government might be able to access everything at its disposal and receive information. A large amount of data provided collects information about its users. The Trump administration has also accused the Chinese government of using the app as a tool for espionage and spreading political propaganda.
It should be noted that Chinese companies are obligated under the laws of the country to carry out the orders of their country's government and provide it with any required information.
TikTok has been negotiating with the US government's Committee on Foreign Investment for years for an agreement to regulate the company's US operations. He discussed a proposal to transfer the company's data to the United States and bring it under American control, but the deal has not yet entered into force and it is not clear if the US government is close to a deal similar to the one with the company.
Last month, the US House of Representatives issued a directive banning the use of the TikTok app on any mobile device in the House of Representatives, as it poses a serious threat to members of the House of Representatives. . In a similar move, the Senate voted unanimously in December on a bill banning the use of TikTok in government agencies.
TikTok is under intense media scrutiny in the US as news outlets continue to report new information about the company's questionable user data practices. Previously leaked information from the company that developed the app, ByteDance, indicates that Chinese employees have access to US users' data.
The company that owns TikTok (ByteDance) previously called efforts to ban the app in US government agencies a "political stance that does not help advance national security interests" and refused to align itself with the proposal to reflect the restrictions imposed by the House of Representatives. .
The Biden administration is divided into two options, the first: restructuring the application to overcome security problems, and the second: forcing the company that owns the application to withdraw its investments in the United States and remove the application from the application to remove stores.
According to a report by market research firm Statista, the app has surpassed 94 million users in the US and is expected to cross 100 million users in 2018-2025.