A list of claims against TikTok explains why the US wants to prohibit the app.

Due to national security concerns, a US court has ordered ByteDance to sell off its US TikTok business before the beginning of next year.

A rule requiring ByteDance, the Chinese business that created the well-known short-video app TikTok, to sell off its US operations by the beginning of next year or risk being banned has been upheld by a US federal appeals court.

170 million Americans use TikTok, and president-elect Donald Trump has declared that he will not allow its ban.

A comprehensive list of US accusations against the business and its parent firm, ByteDance, may be found here.

"The Chinese government holds TikTok management accountable."

TikTok is a national security danger, according to FBI Director Chris Wray, who also highlighted the fact that Chinese businesses must essentially "do whatever the Chinese government wants them to in terms of sharing information or serving as a tool of the Chinese government."

Congressmen have expressed dissatisfaction over the Chinese government's "golden share" in ByteDance, which gives it control over TikTok. TikTok claims that "an entity affiliated with the Chinese government owns 1% of a ByteDance subsidiary, Douyin Information Service," and that the ownership "has no bearing on ByteDance's global operations outside of China, including TikTok."

Americans could be influenced by TikTok.

TikTok's US operations create national security concerns, according to FBI's Wray, because the Chinese government may use the video-sharing software to manipulate users or take control of their devices.

The risks involve "the possibility that the Chinese government could use (TikTok) to control data collection on millions of users or control the recommendation algorithm, which could be used for influence operations," Wray told legislators in the United States.

In March 2023, Paul Nakasone, the director of the National Security Agency, expressed concern about the information TikTok gathers, the algorithm that distributes it to users, and "the control of who has the algorithm."

He claimed that because TikTok could both "turn off the message" and proactively persuade users, the site may facilitate sweeping influence operations.

TikTok asserts that it "does not permit any government to influence or change its recommendation model."

A three-judge panel of the federal appeals court upheld the law, ruling that "the multi-year efforts of both political branches to investigate the national security risks posed by the TikTok platform, and to consider potential remedies proposed by TikTok, weigh heavily in favor of the (law)."

"TikTok will give the Chinese government access to American data."
According to lawmakers, ByteDance may be forced to reveal TikTok user data by the Chinese government under a 2017 National Intelligence law. TikTok contends that U.S. laws and regulations apply to it because it is incorporated in Delaware and California.

According to the company's CEO, TikTok has never shared user data from US users with the Chinese authorities and never will.

Risk to children's mental health
An investigation into whether TikTok hurts young people's physical or mental health and what the firm knew about its involvement in those problems was started in March 2022 by eight states, including California and Massachusetts. 

TikTok claims to have taken several actions "to help ensure that teens under 18 have a safe and enjoyable experience on the app, and many of these measures impose restrictions that don't exist on comparable platforms."

TikTok eavesdrops on reporters
ByteDance said in December 2022 that two journalists' TikTok user data had been inappropriately accessed by certain personnel. In an unsuccessful attempt to look into company information leaks earlier this year, ByteDance staff members obtained the data in an attempt to find possible links between two journalists—a former Financial Times reporter and a former BuzzFeed reporter—and company personnel.

Four ByteDance employees implicated in the event were fired, including two in China and two in the US, according to a person knowledgeable on the situation who spoke to Reuters. Officials at the company stated that they were taking more precautions to safeguard user information.