The national security probe will look into whether the popular video app sent user data to China, according to several reports. TikTok has denied accusations of censorship and said its data is not subject to Chinese law.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/Da Qing
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The US government launched a national security investigation into the Chinese-owned social media app TikTok, several media outlets reported on Friday.
The probe will be carried out by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), The New York Times and Reuters news agency reported, citing anonymous sources familiar with the matter.
The government panel reviews acquisitions in the US by foreign companies.
In the review, investigators will be looking into the acquisition of TikTok's predecessor app, the US social media app Musical.ly, by the Beijing-based company ByteDance in 2017.
The video-sharing app is popular with millions of teens and young adults in the US, with around 60% of its monthly users in the US between the ages of 16 and 24.
Made in Germany - The internet and data privacy - gimme your data!
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On the app, users share short videos that are often set to music. Most of the videos involve users dancing, lip-syncing, doing pranks or sharing snippets of their daily lives.
TikTok said it could not comment on any ongoing regulatory processes, but said in a statement that it "has made clear that we have no higher priority than earning the trust of users and regulators in the US."
News of the probe comes after several US lawmakers called for an investigation into TikTok over concerns that the app could be used by China to spy on users, as well as accusations the company is censoring politically sensitive content.
Senator Marco Rubio welcomed the news, saying he'd sent a letter to CFIUS last month asking them to review TikTok.
"Because any platform owned by a company in China which collects massive amounts of data on Americans is a potential serious threat to our country," the Republican lawmaker wrote on Twitter.
US Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat, and Republican Senator Tom Cotton urged the US intelligence community to open a national security probe into TikTok last week.
In a letter, the senators said TikTok's owner, ByteDance, could be forced to share user data with Chinese intelligence. They also suggested the app could be used to influence the upcoming presidential election in 2020.
"With over 110 million downloads in the US alone, TikTok is a potential counterintelligence threat we cannot ignore," Schumer and Cotton wrote.
Last week, TikTok sought to distance itself from Beijing, saying in a statement: "We are not influenced by any foreign government, including the Chinese government."
The company said its data centers are located outside of China and that its data is not subject to Chinese law. TikTok also pushed back against claims of censorship, saying that it does not remove content based on "sensitivities related to China."
In his letter calling for a probe, Rubio said he raised questions about why there were so few videos of the recent pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong on the app.
In recent years, the US government has intervened to break up or block Chinese deals several times. A Chinese company that owns the gay dating app Grindr reportedly agreed to sell the app earlier this year following a CFIUS review.
How Instagram is ruining the environment
With hordes of copycats flocking to the #instagramfamous sites, leaving trash behind and destroying natural habitat, social media influencers have ironically spoiled some of the stunning places they love.
Image: instagram.com/publiclandshateyou
From #superbloom to #poppynightmare
After a winter of uncommonly heavy rains, spring broke in southern California to the sight of sprawling blooms of wildflowers. Too good a backdrop to miss, some 50,000 people flocked to the area in search of the perfect shot. Where the delicate poppies were trampled, picked and crushed by reclining posers, they won't grow back. It doesn't take much to destroy places of natural beauty.
Image: Reuters/L. Nicholson
When nature goes viral
What used to be a local family hangout overlooking the Colorado River near the Grand Canyon has become one of the most instagrammed places in the US. Horsehoe Bend has gone from attracting a few thousand to a couple of million visitors annually. Car parks are being expanded to accommodate the throngs who clog up trails and cause traffic congestion in a remote place.
Image: imago/blickwinkel/E. Teister
Unintended consequences
Soon after local photographer Johannes Holzer posted a photo of the Bavarian lake near where he grew up, Instagrammers descended. In an interview with German broadcaster Bayrischer Rundfunk, he said the path down to the lake now looks like it has been trampled by soldiers. It is also littered with trash and cigarette butts and is no longer a place of solitude. His take-away? No more geo-tagging.
When a tiny Austrian village of just 700 inhabitants was hyped as a perfect Instagram backdrop, an average of 80 tourist buses and 10,000 visitors started pouring in every day. Locals complain that tourists walk into their properties to find the best possible angle for their photographs, leave trash behind, film with drones that scare off birds, and generally destroy the peace and quiet.
Playa Jardín on the Spanish island of Tenerife is a popular spot among photographers who build little towers with stones collected from the beach nearby. Their designs might make for good shots, but because the spiders, insects and lizards that live under the stones lose their shelter when they're removed from the beach, the towers actually damage the local ecosystem.
Image: Imago Images/McPHOTO/W. Boyungs
Leave no trace
What's more, plant organisms essential to the health of the ground are uprooted when the position of the stones is changed. That led environmentalists to dismantle the rock formations earlier this year, posting explanations on Instagram under the hashtag #pasasinhuella, meaning "leave no trace." Just a few days after the campaign, Instagrammers had already started rebuilding the stone towers.
Image: Imago Images/robertharding/N. Farrin
Popcorn not for take-away
Named for its dead algae that resembles a popular snack, "Popcorn Beach" on the Canary Island of Fuerteventura has gained traction among the Instagram set. But so many people have started taking the algae home as memorabilia that an estimated 10 kilos is disappearing every month. In response, The Clean Ocean Project has started sharing photos like this on Instagram.
Image: Clean Ocean Project
Icelanders fighting back
With more than 10 million images on Instagram, Iceland has become a very popular destination for influencers. But to get the perfect shot, many drive off road, which damages the countryside. They sit on glaciers, walk on moss that can die if trampled, and fly drones over wild animals. The tourist board Visit Iceland has now launched several initiatives promoting responsible behavior by tourists.
Image: picture-alliance/E. Rhodes
Vigilante shaming
The anonymous Instagram account Public Lands Hate You is part of a trend to shame irresponsible behavior. The account reposts images of people breaking the rules outdoors, which has prompted brands to break with some of the influencers and has even led to investigations from US national park services. But it has also garnered criticism for naming people without their consent.
