TikTok has become a dominant force in pop culture in recent years, which has prompted growing concerns from government officials over its Chinese ownership.
At least 14 states have recently banned the application from being used on government devices; some state-run public universities followed suit, banning or blocking the app on their campuses.
Last week, a bipartisan group of lawmakers, including Republican Senator Marco Rubio, announced legislation that would ban TikTok in the United States. Rubio, a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, claimed that TikTok’s Chinese parent company, Byte Dance, cannot be trusted with access to United States’ user data because of the potential national security risk.
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