Internet – United States Parliament Bans Tiktok – Economy

Washington (AFP) – The US state of Montana’s House of Representatives has passed a law banning the social networking app Tiktok developed in China. If Montana’s governor signs the bill into law, which is likely, the ban will go into effect in January. The new rule will prohibit app stores from offering the app, and Tiktok will not be allowed to operate as a business in the northwest state. Users who already have the app on their device will not be affected. Montana is the first state to pass such comprehensive legislation.

In the United States, Tiktok, which belongs to the Chinese internet group Bytedance, is under increasing political pressure. President Joe Biden’s administration has already banned the app from the phones of government employees. The background is fears that Chinese authorities and secret services could collect information on Americans via Tiktok and influence them politically. At the end of March, Tiktok chief Shou Zi Chew had to answer questions in the US Congress. It was met with distrust and rejection by Republican and Democratic lawmakers.

Tiktok has more than 1 billion users and is the most successful online platform outside the United States in western countries. The company rejects all suspicions and confirms that it does not consider itself a subsidiary of a Chinese company. Bytedance is 60% owned by Western investors and the company is based in the Cayman Islands in the Caribbean. Critics counter that the Chinese founders got 20 percent control thanks to higher voting rights and that Bytedance has a large headquarters in Beijing.

After the vote in Parliament in Montana, the American channel CNN quoted a spokeswoman for Tiktok as saying that her company will continue to fight for the rights of users and creators in the state.

© dpa-infocom, dpa: 230415-99-320804/2