China accuses the US of suppressing TikTok and spreading disinformation

China on Thursday accused the US of spreading disinformation and suppressing TikTok after reports that the Biden government had asked the Chinese owner of the popular social media platform, ByteDance, Ltd., to sell its shares in the app for sale.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin told reporters that America has not presented any evidence that TikTok threatens the country’s national security and that it is using data security as an excuse to abuse its power to suppress foreign companies.

“The US should stop spreading disinformation about data security, stop oppressing the offending company, and create an open, fair and non-discriminatory environment for foreign companies to invest and operate in the US,” Wenbin said.

The Wall Street Journal, citing “people familiar with the matter,” reported that the US Treasury Department’s Foreign Investment Committee was threatening to ban the app unless ByteDance is sold.

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Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin answers a question during a press conference at the Foreign Ministry in Beijing Aug. 8, 2022. (NOEL CELIS/AFP via Getty Images)

The Treasury Department declined to comment on the matter.

Earlier this month, US National Security Agency director Paul Nakasone warned about Tiktok’s data collection and algorithm and “control over who owns the algorithm.”

“If protecting national security is the goal, a divestment doesn’t solve the problem: a change in ownership would not impose new restrictions on data flow or access,” Maureen Shanahan, spokeswoman for TikTok, told FOX Business in an email.

The app for TikTok on a phone screen on Thursday March 16, 2023. (Yui Mok/PA Images via Getty Images)

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Shanahan said the social media app has already responded to concerns with “transparent, US-based protections of US user data and systems with robust third-party monitoring, review and verification.”