China urged the United States to stop “tightening” TikTok on Thursday, after Washington gave the popular video-sharing app an ultimatum to split with its Chinese owners or face a national ban.
It comes as Britain announced a security ban on video apps on government devices, in line with actions by Washington and Brussels.
Britain has joined the US and EU in taking an increasingly robust approach to the platform, owned by Chinese company Bytedance, over fears that user data could be used or abused by Chinese officials.
The White House reportedly told the app on Wednesday that it will be banned in the United States if it continues to be owned by the Beijing-based technology company.
A TikTok spokesperson told AFP that “calls for bans or divestment are unnecessary”, stressing that “the best way to deal with national security issues is transparency, data protection and US user systems.”
Beijing also returned the ultimatum, asking Washington to “unreasonably stop” TikTok.
“The U.S. has so far failed to produce evidence that TikTok threatens U.S. national security,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin told a regular briefing.
“The issue of data security should not be used as a tool for some countries to overstretch the concept of national security, abuse of state power and unjustifiably suppress other state enterprises,” he added.
– ‘Good cyber hygiene’ –
The White House last week welcomed a bill introduced in the US Senate that would allow President Joe Biden to ban TikTok because of the app’s risk to sensitive data and American national security.
The bill’s introduction and White House support quickly accelerated political momentum against TikTok, which is also the target of separate legislation in the US House of Representatives.
The tough rise in China is one of the rare issues that has potential bipartisan support in the Republican-controlled House and Senate, where the Democratic Party of Biden holds a majority.
In London, the UK government’s phone ban, implemented with “immediate effect”, follows a risk assessment by third-party app experts in relation to sensitive data.
As a result, government devices will only be allowed to access apps on the approved list, which does not include TikTok.
Announcing the move, Cabinet Office minister Oliver Dowden told UK MPs it was “precaution” and “good cyber hygiene”.
But it is likely to rattle Beijing, after banning tech firm Huawei’s involvement in Britain’s 5G network and several other blocks on China’s investment in critical infrastructure and companies.
A TikTok spokesperson said it was “disappointed” by the decision and that the ban was “based on a fundamental misunderstanding and driven by wider geopolitics”.
The company “must be judged by the facts and treated equally with our competitors”, the spokesman said.
– Western prohibition
TikTok claims to have more than a billion users worldwide including more than 100 million in the United States, making it a cultural powerhouse, especially among young people.
Time spent by users on TikTok has surpassed that spent on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram or Twitter and has eclipsed streaming titan Netflix, according to market tracker Insider Intelligence.
Activists say the ban would be an attack on free speech and prevent the export of American culture and values to TikTok users around the world.
US government workers in January were banned from installing TikTok on government-issued devices.
Civil servants in the European Union and Canada are also prohibited from downloading the application on their work devices.
According to the Wall Street Journal, the US government’s ultimatum to TikTok comes from an interagency board, which is tasked with assessing the risk of foreign investment to national security.
TikTok has consistently denied sharing data with Chinese officials and says it has been working with US authorities for more than two years to address national security concerns.