TikTok Ban: Why is the US trying to ban TikTok? Is TikTok banned in the US?

TikTok has been going through a heat of tension in the past few days as the United States tries to ban its citizens and residents from using the app. CEO, Shou Zi Chew sat before a committee made up of members of the United States House Committee on Energy and Commerce.

The United States is trying to ban TikTok due to potential national security concerns observed by the US. According to them, ByteDance, which is the parent company of TikTok is in bed with the Chinese government and it might be pushed to share information on user data with the government.

During the hearing that lasted more than five hours, Chew was asked if he was in contact with the Chinese government and “questioned whether the company’s proposed solution called Project Texas would offer sufficient protection against Chinese laws that require companies to make user data accessible to the government.”

Chew was blatantly asked by a Democrat from  California named Tony Cardenas if TikTok should be considered a Chinese company, he responded that;

“TikTok is a global nature, not available in mainland China, and headquartered in Singapore, and Los Angeles.”

Another member of the committee also asked if the mother company ByteDance has plans of “spying of American citizens,” which Chew retorted that spying is an inappropriate word to describe the situation.