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TikTok has been getting a lot of pressure from the Trump administration, with ongoing threats of a total U.S. ban. But it’s not just the U.S. threatening TikTok bans.

The app's unprecedented growth in 2020 makes it one of the top apps in the world. But many countries are fearful that TikTok puts too much data in the hands of the Chinese government.

The Chinese-owned app has found more success outside of its homeland than any other Chinese app. But national security worries have many countries scrutinizing TikTok. 

India recently blocked TikTok, along with over 100 other Chinese apps. The Modi administration in India cited security concerns, but the ban was also a response to a deadly border conflict with China.

In India, the short video app had more than 118 million downloads in 2020. In the U.S. a total ban would de-platform the more than 100 million users. AppTopia estimates that 50 million users downloaded the app in 2020 alone.

There are ongoing investigations into security issues in Australia, Japan, Pakistan, and Indonesia. 

Recently, TikTok withdrew the app from Hong Kong, following the passing of new, punitive laws governing data request. Facebook, Google, and Twitter have temporarily ceased processing user data requests from Hong Kong.

Security concerns are mounting 

China has been accused of data mining and spying on COVID-19 research, top executives at Fortune 500 companies, government agencies, journalists with sources in China that they want to protect, U.S. government employees, and military personnel stationed abroad. 

These revelations have resulted in action by the U.S. military, government agencies, and both the RNC and DNC to ban the use of TikTok on government issued devices.

The striking difference in data security between TikTok and apps like YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter is that user data from the app is stored in China. The company has employees in China and the Chinese government owns data gathered by the app. 

TikTok denies wrongdoing

TikTok claims it hasn’t given any data to the Chinese government, but that's a difficult assertion to verify. 

TikTok has launched a Washington lobbying offensive in an attempt to assure regulators and users that it does not share any data with the Chinese government. TikTok has been very public in saying it will abide by any laws or regulations necessary to stay operating in the U.S.

There may not be a total ban of TikTok. The parent company, ByteDance is in negotiations to sell TikTok to a U.S. company. Right now, the probable purchaser would be Microsoft. And while this might protect user data from going to a foreign power, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has come out against the move. 

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