American Government Officials Want TikTok’s US Unit Sold To Combat Privacy And Security Issues

A number of leading officials from the US Government are calling for the sale of TikTok’s American division. The officials claim this is the only and best way out to solve the matter as the app has really been struggling to justify its claims linked to not providing data of users to others.

A number of security officials that are a part of the Committee linked to the US Foreign Investment feel the app’s parent firm which is located in China really needs to get its act together because it can’t continue to work like this.

Those officials who happen to be in leading positions feel this decision was a long time coming and it really does need to be addressed before it’s too late. The report on the crucial matter was recently published by The Wall Street Journal.

Meanwhile, when asked to comment on the news, a rep from TikTok mentioned on Monday that the firm was seen cooperating with the country’s government for a while now. They’ve done a great job in terms of providing the necessary reassurance that’s required to give the American people a sense of understanding of what’s going on and how hard TikTok is working to provide them with the best services in the most transparent way.

But many US critics would best disagree. According to them, the platform really needs to do more and it’s true that they are cooperating well but perhaps not enough to the liking of officials. They also mentioned how the security concerns being put forward are all legitimate and those concerns may be resolved on a full scale with time.

Some of the major issues are linked to the way the algorithms are run, major data concerns, issues linked to governance, recommendations of content, and so on and so forth. And while TikTok did make quite some progress in tweaking these matters to better satisfy its critics, some American Government officials feel there is a lot more that needs to be done regarding the data security of its citizens.

They also feel there’s an element of political propaganda attached that has to be highlighted and is better addressed by the app’s sale of the US unit, as reported by the WSJ today, citing those familiar with the matter.

The matter is only in discussion right now and we’re not sure if an actual sale can occur or is on the cards. For that, we’re just going to have to wait and watch to see what’s next.

Read next: TikTok Accused Of Tracking Journalists To Investigate Internal Leaks In The Company
by Dr. Hura Anwar via Digital Information World