US Warns Of TikTok Ban If Chinese Owners Fail To Divest

The Chinese-owned social media giant, TikTok, is under threat of a federal ban unless its parent company, ByteDance, sells its stake in the app, according to a statement released by the company on Thursday. The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), which reviews foreign investments with national security implications, has demanded the divestment, the statement confirmed.

For the past two years, CFIUS and TikTok have been in discussions regarding a possible mitigation agreement to address data privacy concerns while allowing the app to continue its US operations.  However, as Congress intensified its scrutiny of the platform and prepared to give the White House more powers to impose controls, the window for such an agreement began to close rapidly.