TikTok Considers Re-branding to Hide Chinese Ownership

The Chinese-based tech firm ByteDance is reportedly considering a U.S. re-brand of its short-form video-sharing app TikTok as it attempts to distance the app from its Chinese roots, according to the Wall Street Journal. TikTok has come under fire recently from U.S. politicians worried that the app may actually pose a threat to national security.

Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) asked the acting director of national intelligence, Joseph Maguire, recently to investigate the Chinese-owned social media app TikTok to determine if it poses “national security risks.”

“With over 110 million downloads in the U.S. alone, TikTok is a potential counter-intelligence threat we cannot ignore,” wrote Schumer and Cotton, who currently sits on the Senate Intelligence Committee. “Given these concerns, we ask that the Intelligence Community conduct an assessment of the national security risks posed by TikTok and other China-based content platforms operating in the U.S. and brief Congress on these findings.”

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