TikTok is being reviewed by US national security panel CFIUS, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin says
- Trump administration acts on fears that the app’s user data could be subject to access requests by the Chinese government
- TikTok’s CEO says the short-video platform has become ‘the latest target, but we are not the enemy’
TikTok, the hugely popular, Chinese-owned short-video platform, is undergoing a national security review by US federal regulators, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin confirmed on Wednesday.
Amid calls from American lawmakers for greater scrutiny of TikTok over fears that user data could be subject to access requests by the Chinese government, Mnuchin said his department would soon be suggesting possible action on the app to US President Donald Trump.
“TikTok is under CFIUS review and we’ll be making a recommendation to the president on it this week,” Mnuchin, standing alongside Trump, told reporters outside the White House. “So we have lots of alternatives.”
CFIUS, the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, is a Treasury-led panel that assesses national security risks associated with certain transactions in the US involving foreign entities.
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What is CFIUS, anyway?
Last year, the panel ordered Grindr’s Chinese owners to sell the gay dating app over concerns about the security of personal data.