Former US Security Officials, Experts Reserve Concerns Over TikTok Compromising National Security

  • Former national security officials and other experts found that TikTok users would still be exposed to hacking and spying by China even if the U.S. spared the video platform from a total ban in the country, Bloomberg reported.
  • The Justice Department reviewed an accord that would keep China's ByteDance Ltd's popular video-streaming app accessible to millions of U.S. users. 
  • TikTok has been under U.S. scrutiny since 2019 over concerns of espionage or other harmful purposes.
  • Also Read: Needham Considers It Futile For Meta To Compete With TikTok, YouTube, Amazon, Google
  • TikTok was confident of fully satisfying every reasonable U.S. national security concern.
  • TikTok routed every U.S. user traffic through servers maintained by Oracle Corp ORCL for audit of the app's algorithms.
  • While ByteDance has tried to distance itself from Chinese state influence, President Xi Jinping has launched a sweeping crackdown on private enterprises, particularly in the tech sector.
  • U.S. and China's relations hit the rocks since the pandemic further disrupted the semiconductor supply chain triggering an industry crisis.
  • The U.S. and other countries started consolidating their semiconductor position by investing in the domestic manufacture of chips to reduce reliance on China.
  • U.S.-issued export controls restricted the sale of semiconductors made with U.S. technology without a valid export license.
  • Meta Platforms Inc META has faced a tough time competing with TikTok, which succeeded in winning young subscribers from the former with its short-video format.
  • Photo by solen-feyissa via Unsplash
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