Chinese short-form video TikTok has recorded an increase in monthly active users in the U.S. amid the ongoing pressure to ban the app in the country.
The social media giant on Monday disclosed that it now has 150 million monthly active users in the United States, up from 100 million that was recorded in 2020, which saw a 50 million additional increase of users.
TikTok is set to continue growing rapidly in users’ numbers and time spent on the app, as analysts predict that the number of U.S TikTok users is expected to grow to 88.7 million by 2024.
Meanwhile, the app has undergone a yearslong review by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, which could result in a ban of the app or a forced sale of the company’s U.S. operation.
It would be recalled that Investors King on the 17th of March 2023, had reported that the United States government has taken a hard stance towards TikTok, ordering the app to be sold or risk a ban as it seeks to resolve national security concerns.
The U.S. government demand is a significant move in President Biden’s administration towards TikTok, which has been under scrutiny for years over concerns that China could request vital users’ data from the app.
TikTok, however, expressed dissatisfaction at the U.S. government’s decision, which it claimed that its security proposal which involves storing American data in the United States offered the best protection for users without any breach of private information.
The social media platform further added that it has spent more than $1.5 billion on rigorous data security efforts, rejected spying allegations, and stated that if protecting national security is the objective, divestment doesn’t solve the problem and a change of ownership would not impose any new restrictions on data flows or access.
Meanwhile, U.S Senate Intelligence Committee chair Mark Warner who is a corresponding legislation to give the administration more powers to ban TikTok, stated that he did not think TikTok U.S data was safe despite the app’s claims. “This notional idea that the date can be made safe under (Chinese Communist Party) law, just doesn’t pass the smell test”, he added.
Concerns around TikTok heightened last year in December, when the social media platform’s parent company ByteDance, disclosed that it fired four employees who accessed data on two journalists from BuzzFeed News and the Financial Times while attempting to track down the source of a leaked report about the company.
TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew will testify next week before the House energy and commerce committee about the company’s privacy and data security practices, as well as its relationship with the Chinese government.
If eventually TikTok is banned in the U.S., it would no doubt affect certain significant groups in the country, owing to the fact that the app is a major social influence. It is used broadly by students, content creators, journalists, etc.
It is also interesting to note that if the U.S. government moves to completely block the app, there is a possibility that the use of a VPN (a virtual private network) could provide access to the app. Still, the government could target VPN access to make the ban effective. Officials could “ban VPN use or compel VPN companies to have a blacklist of sites that they will not permit the flow of traffic to.