TikTok logos are seen on smartphones in front of a displayed ByteDance logo in this illustration. [Photo/Agencies]
Caught in the crossfire of escalating geopolitical rivalry between China and the United States, Beijing-based internet technology company ByteDance is facing increasing pressure to divest itself of its thriving TikTok operations in the US.
In the latest developments, the popular Chinese video app has been banned from all US House of Representatives-managed devices, and a law will soon come into effect banning the app from being used on all US government devices.
In a message sent to all lawmakers and staff on Tuesday, the House's Chief Administrative Officer said that the app is considered "high risk" due to "security issues".
Although alleged US Commerce Department concern about a potential loss in a subsequent litigation may mitigate the urge to press ahead with a total ban, there seems to be no way for TikTok to escape increasingly politicized scrutiny.
Considering the current tensions surrounding the overall China-US relationship, there is little chance the China hawks in the US government and Congress will give up until they hunt down every viable link between the two economies and peoples and sever it, which appears to be the only way for them to stop worrying about "national security".
One thing that has become increasingly clear over the past few years is that the constantly growing distrust has cultivated a vicious circle in one of the world's most substantial state-to-state relations, and the bilateral relationship is more and more vulnerable to political hysteria.
TikTok's troubles began under the Donald Trump administration, which first attempted to bring it under US control, and then tried to ban it. The Joe Biden administration once invalidated the Trump ban by revoking the latter's executive order. The renewed appeals for TikTok's forced sale show how strongly some China hawks in the US feel about the company's Chinese ownership, which has been the sole argument they have raised to justify their calls.
Like the Chinese telecom company Huawei, which has lost almost all access to the US market because of unsupported "national security concerns", the case against TikTok has been built on suspicion. For all the hoopla about Huawei's "threat" to US national security, and that of the US' allies and partners, no credible evidence has ever been presented to justify the claims. Yet Huawei was banned anyway. And more US allies and partners are on their way to excluding it.
Given TikTok's success in the US market — it has an estimated 100 million individual users and an increasing number of US businesses are using it — a blanket ban may be difficult. But that doesn't mean its troubles will not continue. As some in Washington have said, the only way for it to operate in the US that would be acceptable to them would be TikTok's divesture from its Chinese owner.
ByteDance has worked hard to satisfy US demands and allay security concerns. But that has not been enough so far. Given TikTok's success and the inability of some in the US to tolerate any foreign company being successful, let alone a Chinese one, things are unlikely to get easier for the company any time soon.