TikTok faces a direct challenge to its continued operations in the US. The Biden administration is reportedly demanding that TikTok be sold from its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, or face a potential ban. The lawsuit was first reported by The Wall Street Journal and then by The New York Times.
The White House threat is an escalation of limited bans and pending legislation that have been cropping up for some time. In late February, the Biden administration said that federal agencies would have 30 days to remove TikTok from government devicesand similar restrictions have been extended to dozens of US states.
A bill introduced earlier this month would give the Commerce secretary the ability to bar foreign companies from operating in the US if there are threats to national security, a key reason some elected officials have said that TikTok should be banned. TikTok has said that user data is not stored in China and has proposed a deal with the US government that would block ByteDance’s US operations to assuage its concerns. The Wall Street Journal reported in December that negotiations between TikTok and Washington had stalled and the future of the deal seemed uncertain.
TikTok did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The edge.