Only the smartphone manufacturer Huawei, now the video app TikTok: The US government has reportedly launched a security check. A government panel to check whether the popular especially for their karaoke videos app forward data to the Chinese authorities, the New York Times and Reuters news agency, citing insiders. The US Treasury Department did not want to comment on the report.
Earlier, US parliamentarians, including Republican Senator Marco Rubio and Senate Democrat chief Chuck Schumer, had warned that TikTok could be abused by the Beijing government for espionage purposes. "With more than 110 million downloads in the US alone, TikTok is a potential counterespionage threat that we can not ignore," Schumer wrote last week with Republican Senator Tom Cotton in a letter to US intelligence chief Joseph Maguire.
"Not influenced by any foreign government"
The Chinese company ByteDance had bought TikTok 2017 for one billion dollars. At that time the application was still called Musical.ly. Three insiders told Reuters that the transaction is now under investigation by the foreign investment agency CFIUS.
Upon request, TikTok did not specifically seek to comment on the US audit process, but affirmed that the company had "no higher priority" than "winning the trust of US users and regulators." Last week, TikTok emphasized that it was "not influenced by any foreign government, such as the Chinese government," and its data centers were not located in the People's Republic. TikTok is very popular among US youths.
The Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei has classified the US government as a security risk for the United States. She accuses the company of sabotage and espionage for the Chinese government. Huawei rejects the allegations and assures that it operates independently of the Chinese state. Until November 19, a grace period applies to US companies still working with Huawei.