Washington requested TikTok’s Chinese language guardian firm ByteDance to divest its stake within the quick video app or face a doable ban within the U.S., CNBC has confirmed.

TikTok spokesperson Brooke Oberwetter advised Reuters that the corporate had just lately heard from the U.S. Committee on International Funding in the US (CFIUS). The committee advised ByteDance to promote its shares in TikTok, or the app might face a U.S. ban.

Oberwetter or the U.S. Treasury Division weren’t instantly accessible for remark when contacted by CNBC.

An individual accustomed to the matter, who requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of the state of affairs, advised CNBC that TikTok had been contacted by CFIUS however the agency was looking for additional readability from Washington.

The Wall Avenue Journal first reported the U.S. transfer.

The U.S. has quite a lot of issues about TikTok and has maintained the app presents a nationwide safety threat. Washington is anxious that American person knowledge on TikTok might fall into the fingers of the Chinese language authorities, as a result of a regulation in China that compels companies handy over data to Beijing if they’re requested to take action. TikTok has repeatedly said that U.S. person knowledge isn’t saved in China the place these legal guidelines apply.

Washington can also be involved that TikTok might be used for affect operations by China.

A TikTok spokesperson stated divesting the enterprise wouldn’t resolve the U.S.’s issues.

“If defending nationwide safety is the target, divestment does not remedy the issue: a change in possession wouldn’t impose any new restrictions on knowledge flows or entry,” the spokesperson stated.

“One of the best ways to handle issues about nationwide safety is with the clear, U.S.-based safety of U.S. person knowledge and methods, with strong third-party monitoring, vetting, and verification, which we’re already implementing.”

It isn’t the primary time that TikTok has confronted an outright ban within the U.S. Former President Donald Trump in 2020 tried to ban the quick video app after which pushed to get TikTok spun off from ByteDance. The U.S. courts ended up blocking Trump’s makes an attempt.

TikTok has sought to guarantee U.S. lawmakers that American person knowledge is protected. In June final yr, it moved all of its U.S. person site visitors to Oracle’s cloud. Reuters reported in December that TikTok can also be giving Oracle the flexibility to examine a few of the app’s code. Oracle has additionally been tasked with making certain TikTok’s know-how infrastructure is separate from ByteDance, Reuters reported.

To this point it seems the strikes have achieved little to calm the U.S.’s fears. In February, the White Home gave authorities businesses 30 days to make sure TikTok was not put in on official units.