TikTok has been told by the US government to sell off its shares in the video-sharing app or face the possibility of a US ban, the company said on Wednesday. The demand is the latest in a series of measures by US officials and lawmakers, who have raised concerns that user data on TikTok in the US could be passed to the Chinese government. TikTok, owned by ByteDance, has over 100 million users in the US. It is also the first time under the administration of Democratic President Joe Biden that a possible TikTok ban has been threatened. Biden's predecessor, Republican Donald Trump, tried to ban the app in 2020 but was blocked by US courts.

TikTok spokesperson Brooke Oberwetter said that the company had recently heard from the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), led by the US Treasury, which demanded that the Chinese owners of the app sell their shares or face a possible ban. The Chinese Foreign Ministry responded on Thursday, saying that the US had not provided any evidence that TikTok threatened national security.

The CFIUS unanimously recommended in 2020 that ByteDance sell TikTok. Under pressure from Trump, ByteDance tried unsuccessfully to finalise a deal with Walmart and Oracle Corp to transfer TikTok's assets in the US to a new entity. If protecting national security is the goal, disinvestment does not solve the problem, said Oberwetter in a statement.

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