How TikTok Became a US-China National Security Issue

Depending on whom you ask, the short-form video app TikTok is where you watch goofy dances and makeup tutorials, or it’s a gravely sophisticated threat to US national security. Because TikTok is owned by a Chinese company, ByteDance Ltd. — and because China is known to be interested in having its technology companies share the data they collect — its ubiquitous popularity among Americans carries geopolitical implications far beyond the mobile-phone screen.

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