Egypt's CBE issues EGP5b FRN T-bonds    EHA launches national telemedicine platform with support from Egyptian doctors abroad    Madbouly reviews strategy to localize pharmaceutical industry, ensure drug supply    Egypt's real estate market faces resale slowdown amid payment pressures    Al-Mashat tells S&P that Egypt working to reduce external debt, empower private sector    Cairo's real estate market shows resilient growth as economy stabilizes: JLL    Egypt's Foreign Minister, Pakistani counterpart meet in Doha    Egypt condemns terrorist attack in northwest Pakistan    Emergency summit in Doha as Gaza toll rises, Israel targets Qatar    Egypt renews call for Middle East free of nuclear weapons، ahead of IAEA conference    Egypt's EDA, Korean pharma firms explore investment opportunities    Egypt's FM heads to Doha for talks on Israel escalation    Egypt advances plans to upgrade historic Cairo with Azbakeya, Ataba projects    Egyptian pound ends week lower against US dollar – CBE    Egypt hosts G20 meeting for 1st time outside member states    Lebanese Prime Minister visits Egypt's Grand Egyptian Museum    Egypt to tighten waste rules, cut rice straw fees to curb pollution    Egypt seeks Indian expertise to boost pharmaceutical industry    Egypt prepares unified stance ahead of COP30 in Brazil    Egypt recovers collection of ancient artefacts from Netherlands    Egypt harvests 315,000 cubic metres of rainwater in Sinai as part of flash flood protection measures    Egyptian, Ugandan Presidents open business forum to boost trade    Al-Sisi says any party thinking Egypt will neglect water rights is 'completely mistaken'    Egypt's Sisi warns against unilateral Nile measures, reaffirms Egypt's water security stance    Egypt's Sisi, Uganda's Museveni discuss boosting ties    Egypt, Huawei explore healthcare digital transformation cooperation    Greco-Roman rock-cut tombs unearthed in Egypt's Aswan    Egypt reveals heritage e-training portal    Sisi launches new support initiative for families of war, terrorism victims    Egypt expands e-ticketing to 110 heritage sites, adds self-service kiosks at Saqqara    Palm Hills Squash Open debuts with 48 international stars, $250,000 prize pool    On Sport to broadcast Pan Arab Golf Championship for Juniors and Ladies in Egypt    Golf Festival in Cairo to mark Arab Golf Federation's 50th anniversary    Germany among EU's priciest labour markets – official data    Paris Olympic gold '24 medals hit record value    A minute of silence for Egyptian sports    Russia says it's in sync with US, China, Pakistan on Taliban    It's a bit frustrating to draw at home: Real Madrid keeper after Villarreal game    Shoukry reviews with Guterres Egypt's efforts to achieve SDGs, promote human rights    Sudan says countries must cooperate on vaccines    Johnson & Johnson: Second shot boosts antibodies and protection against COVID-19    Egypt to tax bloggers, YouTubers    Egypt's FM asserts importance of stability in Libya, holding elections as scheduled    We mustn't lose touch: Muller after Bayern win in Bundesliga    Egypt records 36 new deaths from Covid-19, highest since mid June    Egypt sells $3 bln US-dollar dominated eurobonds    Gamal Hanafy's ceramic exhibition at Gezira Arts Centre is a must go    Italian Institute Director Davide Scalmani presents activities of the Cairo Institute for ITALIANA.IT platform    







Thank you for reporting!
This image will be automatically disabled when it gets reported by several people.



U.S. launches national security investigation into TikTok
Published in Amwal Al Ghad on 02 - 11 - 2019

The U.S. government has opened a national security review of TikTok owner Beijing ByteDance's $1 billion acquisition of U.S. social media app Musical.ly, two people familiar with the matter told Reuters.
While the $1 billion acquisition was completed two years ago, U.S. lawmakers have been calling in recent weeks for a national security probe into TikTok, concerned the Chinese company may be censoring politically sensitive content, and raising questions about how it stores personal data.
TikTok has been growing more popular among U.S. teenagers at a time of growing tensions between the United States and China over trade and technology transfers. About 60 percent of TikTok's 26.5 million monthly active users in the United States are between the ages of 16 and 24, the company said earlier this year.
The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), which reviews deals by foreign acquirers for potential national security risks, has started to review the Musical.ly deal, the sources said. TikTok did not seek clearance from CFIUS when it acquired Musical.ly, they added, which gives the U.S. security panel scope to investigate it now.
CFIUS is in talks with TikTok about measures it could take to avoid divesting the Musical.ly assets it acquired, the sources said. Details of those talks, referred to by CFIUS as mitigation, could not be learned. The specific concerns that CFIUS has could also not be learned.
The sources requested anonymity because CFIUS reviews are confidential.
"While we cannot comment on ongoing regulatory processes, TikTok has made clear that we have no higher priority than earning the trust of users and regulators in the U.S. Part of that effort includes working with Congress and we are committed to doing so," a TikTok spokesperson said. ByteDance did not immediately reply to a request for comment.
The U.S. Treasury Department, which chairs CFIUS, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Last week, U.S. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Senator Tom Cotton asked for a national security probe. They said they were concerned about the video-sharing platform's collection of user data, and whether China censors content seen by U.S. users. They also suggested TikTok could be targeted by foreign influence campaigns.
"With over 110 million downloads in the U.S. alone, TikTok is a potential counterintelligence threat we cannot ignore," Schumer and Cotton wrote to Joseph Macguire, acting director of national intelligence.
TikTok allows users to create and share short videos with special effects. The company has said U.S. user data is stored in the United States, but the senators noted that ByteDance is governed by Chinese laws.
TikTok also says China does not have jurisdiction over content of the app, which does not operate in China and is not influenced by any foreign government.
Last month, Musical.ly founder Alex Zhu, who heads the TikTok team, started to report directly to ByteDance CEO Zhang Yiming, one of the sources said. He previously reported to Zhang Nan, the head of ByteDance's Douyin, a Chinese short video app. It was not clear whether this move, which separates TikTok organizationally from ByteDance's other holdings, was related to the company's discussions with CFIUS over mitigation.
In October, U.S. senator Marco Rubio asked CFIUS to review ByteDance's acquisition of Musical.ly. He cited questions about why TikTok had "only had a few videos of the Hong Kong protests that have been dominating international headlines for months."
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, whose product competes with TikTok particularly for younger users, has also criticized the app over censorship concerns.
The United States has been increasingly scrutinizing app developers over the safety of personal data they handle, especially if some of it involves U.S. military or intelligence personnel.
Chinese gaming company Beijing Kunlun Tech Co Ltd said in May it would seek to sell its popular gay dating app Grindr after it was approached by CFIUS with national security concerns.
Last year, CFIUS forced China's Ant Financial to scrap plans to buy MoneyGram International Inc MGI.O over concerns about the safety of data that could be used to identify U.S. citizens.
The panel also compelled Oceanwide Holdings and Genworth Financial Inc GNW.N to work through a U.S. third party data administrator to ensure the Chinese company could not access the insurer's U.S. customers' personal private data.
ByteDance's Rise
ByteDance is one of China's fastest growing startups. It owns the country's leading news aggregator, Jinri Toutiao, as well as TikTok, which has attracted celebrities like Ariana Grande and Katy Perry.
ByteDance counts Japanese technology giant SoftBank, venture firm Sequoia Capital and big private-equity firms such as KKR, General Atlantic and Hillhouse Capital Group as backers.
Analysts have called ByteDance a strong threat to other Chinese tech industry firms including social media and gaming giant Tencent Holdings Ltd and search engine leader Baidu Inc. Globally, ByteDance's apps have 1.5 billion monthly active users and 700 million daily active users, the company said in July.
The seven-year-old Chinese start-up posted a better-than-expected revenue for the first half of 2019 at over $7 billion, and was valued at $78 billion late last year, sources have told Reuters.
Source: Reuters


Clic here to read the story from its source.