These are the places where Chinese-owned TikTok is already banned

TikTok is in the cross hairs of authorities in the US, where new legislation threatens a nationwide ban unless its China-based parent ByteDance divests

TikTok is already banned in several places and from some government-issued devices, due to worries that the app poses privacy and cybersecurity concerns

4-MIN READ4-MIN

New legislation in the US threatens a nationwide ban on TikTok unless its China-based parent ByteDance divests. Photo: Reuters

Published: 7:00am, 27 Apr 2024Updated: 7:24am, 27 Apr 2024

TikTok is in the cross hairs of authorities in the US, where new legislation threatens a nationwide ban unless its China-based parent ByteDance divests. It would be the biggest blow yet to the popular video-sharing app, which has faced various restrictions around the world.

TikTok is already banned in a handful of places and from government-issued devices, due to official worries that the app poses privacy and cybersecurity concerns.

Those fears are reflected in the US bill, which is the culmination of long-held bipartisan fears in Washington that China’s communist leaders could force ByteDance to hand over US user data, or influence Americans by suppressing or promoting certain content.

TikTok has long maintained that it doesn’t share data with the Chinese government, and its CEO has taken a defiant stance, vowing to fight back.

Here are the places that have partial or total bans on TikTok:

Afghanistan

TikTok has been banned since 2022, along with video game PUBG, after the country’s Taliban leadership decided to forbid access on the grounds of protecting young people from “being misled”.