China continues to give TikTok headaches. The originally Chinese video app is now withdrawing from Hong Kong, fearing that under the new security law it would have to share activist data with Beijing.
The US Secretary of State is not at all reassured that TikTok could actually keep those data out of Beijing’s hands.
“In light of the events, we have decided to discontinue operations in Hong Kong,” a TikTok spokesperson told Reuters news agency.
The decision followed after a controversial new security law passed in Hong Kong criminalizing “secession, subversion and foreign interference”.
With this measure, TikTok wants to make clear to the world that it has nothing to do with the Chinese government, which has tightened its grip on Hong Kong.
The new security law may oblige technology companies to share their users’ data with the Beijing regime. And that is what Bytedance, the Chinese company that developed TikTok, absolutely wants to avoid.