A US official has sent a letter to Apple and Google, requesting that TikTok be removed from the Google Play Store and App Store. The deadline for this request was July 8th. So what's going on? Why have TikTok and the US, who were at odds during the Donald Trump era, come face to face again?
The US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has made an important appeal to Google and Apple, asking for TikTok to be removed from their app stores. Those who remember the Donald Trump era will recall the tension between TikTok and the US administration. So what has happened now that the USA and TikTok have come face to face again?
The letter written by the FCC official is quite serious, as both companies have been given until July 8th to respond. If they do not comply, it is unclear what measures the FCC will take. Let's take a closer look at the US claims about TikTok.
In the letter written by FCC official Brendan Carr, it is claimed that TikTok is not an ordinary video-sharing platform. According to Carr, the platform is a "surveillance" application used by the Chinese government. He says that the data of US users is not secure and that the platform has become a national security risk, which is unacceptable. Carr bases these claims on audio recordings that were recently released.
It was proposed that the data of US users remain in the US to ease tensions between the US and TikTok, but it turns out that this was not the case. According to audio recordings released recently, user data that should remain in the US can be accessed from Beijing. This audio recording has prompted the FCC official to write a letter explaining the situation and requesting action from Google and Apple.