US senator pleas investigation over TikTok’s Musical.ly acquisition

Musical.ly is a social media service which was released in 2014 in Shanghai and is incorporated in Santa Monica, California. The service was acquired by ByteDance and has been operating as TikTok for overseas markets.

However, the viral social media platform recently made headlines as it drew political scrutiny in the United States. On Wednesday, Senator Marco Rubio requested the U.S. national security panel to investigate ByteDance’s acquisition of Musical.ly, which later grew and rebranded as TikTok, citing allegations of its use by the Chinese government to censor politically sensitive content.

According to Rubio’s letter to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, Chinese apps are increasingly being utilized to censor content and silence open discussion on topics that are considered as sensitive by Communist Party and the Chinese Government.

Rubio claims that there are growing evidence that TikTok was censoring content in the United States that is "not in line" with the Chinese government. He added that China is using such applications to strengthen its foreign policy and globally overpower the freedom of speech, expression, and other freedoms that Americans deeply cherish.

Reportedly, the Treasury Secretary leads the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) to investigate mergers and acquisitions to ensure national security. The interagency committee has drawn the attention in recent years as Washington tighten up scrutiny on Chinese inbound investment.

Reportedly, the United States' action against Chinese tech companies has extended beyond established players such as Huawei Technologies and reached a new generation of titans, many of which are less than 10 years old.

ByteDance, is one such firm that is among the world’s most valuable startups and has reportedly bought Musical.ly for $1 billion. Operated by the Chinese internet company, TikTok’s main regulatory challenges in overseas markets such as U.K, India, U.S involved child protection and data privacy.

However, according to a TikTok spokesperson, their firm’s moderation policies and content are led by its U.S.-based team and is not influenced by any foreign government, including China.

Source Credit - https://news.yahoo.com/2-u-senator-rubio-calls-192816563.html