(Beijing) Beijing on Thursday denounced the “unjustified attacks” of the United States against TikTok, after an ultimatum from the Biden administration urging the Chinese parent company of the application to part with it, under pain of a ban on the American soil.
Following in the footsteps of several Western powers – the United States, Canada and the European Union – the United Kingdom has in turn banned the application on government devices.
In this battle where Washington invokes national security reasons to attack the platform of short videos, very popular with young people, Beijing has challenged the first world power to “provide proof” of its allegations.
According to the Wall Street Journal and other American dailies, the White House has issued an ultimatum: if TikTok remains under the control of ByteDance, its China-based parent company, it will be banned in the United States.
TikTok confirmed to AFP that the US government had indeed recommended the transfer of the application by its owner.
Amid the intense Beijing-Washington rivalry over trade and new technology, many U.S. lawmakers and leaders say the app poses a national security threat.
TikTok is accused by its critics of giving Chinese authorities access to user data around the world, which the application strongly denies.
“The United States should stop spreading false information on data security issues, stop unwarranted attacks [against TikTok], and provide an open, fair, just and non-discriminatory business environment” for foreign companies, Wang said Thursday. Wenbin, a spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry.
Washington “has so far provided no evidence that TikTok poses a threat to the national security of the United States,” he said in Beijing at a regular press conference.
The White House has already banned officials of federal institutions from having the app on their smartphones, under a law ratified in early January.
TikTok stores US user data on servers located in the United States. The application admitted that employees based in China had access to it, but under a strict and limited framework, and not the Chinese government.
“If the objective is to protect national security, a divestiture does not solve the problem: [the fact that the application] changes ownership will not mean the imposition of new restrictions on the flow of data or access to these, “responded a spokesperson for TikTok, contacted by AFP.
“The best way to address national security concerns is to use US systems to protect user data in the country, with strong control and third-party verifications, which we are already in the process of put in place,” she added.
The European Commission and the Canadian government also recently banned the app from the work devices of their officials.
In London, Minister of State Oliver Dowden announced a similar measure on Thursday with “immediate effect” as a “precaution”.
“Given the particular risk around government devices, which may contain sensitive information, it is prudent and proportionate to restrict the use of certain apps,” he told British MPs.
TikTok said it was “disappointed” with the UK decision, adding that it had “begun to implement a comprehensive plan to further protect our European user data, which includes storing UK user data in our European data centres.” , according to a statement sent to AFP.
Chinese President Xi Jinping had condemned a few days ago the “policy of containment, encirclement and repression against China” implemented by “Western countries led by the United States”.
Remarks made against the backdrop of American attacks against Chinese technology flagships such as telecom equipment manufacturer Huawei. The United States also imposes restrictions on semiconductor exports to Chinese companies.
TikTok’s popularity has exploded in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, far beyond teenagers. The app has over 100 million users in the United States.
It has surpassed YouTube, Twitter, Instagram and Facebook in “time spent” by American adults on each platform in recent years, and is now hot on Netflix, according to Insider Intelligence.
The powerful American civil rights association ACLU has opposed the bills against the application, in the name of freedom of expression.
