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EXPOSED: Shocking Chinese Spy Scandal Triggers U.S. Government Ultimatum to Sell TikTok or Face National Ban

ByAlki David

Mar 24, 2023

The future of the popular social media app TikTok is in doubt as the U.S. government takes a harder line against the Chinese-owned company. The Wall Street Journal reports that the government has demanded that ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok, sell its shares in the app or face a national ban.

This move comes as Western powers, including the European Union and the United States, grow increasingly concerned about the potential misuse of user data by Chinese officials. These fears were heightened earlier this year after a Chinese spy balloon was shot down in U.S. airspace.

Two white balloons float outside the Chinese embassy in Washington as part of an activist’s protest over the alleged surveillance craft shot down over the U.S. Photo AFP

The White House has welcomed a new bill that would give President Joe Biden the power to ban TikTok altogether. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan stated that the bill “would empower the United States government to prevent certain foreign governments from exploiting technology services… in a way that poses risks to Americans’ sensitive data and our national security.”

With both the Senate and the White House in support of the bill, the momentum against TikTok is growing rapidly. It is also facing a separate piece of legislation in the House of Representatives. The future of the app is uncertain, and it remains to be seen whether ByteDance will comply with the U.S. government’s demands or face a national ban.

By Alki David

Alki David — Publisher, Media Architect, SIN Network Creator - live, direct-to-public communication, media infrastructure, accountability journalism, and independent distribution. Born in Lagos, Nigeria; educated in the United Kingdom and Switzerland; attended the Royal College of Art. Early internet broadcaster — participated in real-time public coverage during the 1997 Mars landing era using experimental online transmission from Beverly Hills. Founder of FilmOn, one of the earliest global internet television networks offering live and on-demand broadcasting outside legacy gatekeepers. Publisher of SHOCKYA — reporting since 2010 on systemic corruption inside the entertainment business and its expansion into law, finance, and regulation. Creator of the SIN Network (ShockYA Integrated Network), a federated media and civic-information infrastructure spanning investigative journalism, live TV, documentary, and court-record reporting. Lived and worked for over 40 years inside global media hubs including Malibu, Beverly Hills, London, Hong Kong and Gstaad. Early encounter with Julian Assange during the first Hologram USA operations proved a formative turning point — exposing the realities of lawfare, information suppression, and concentrated media power. Principal complainant and driving force behind what court filings describe as the largest consolidated media–legal accountability action on record, now before the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court. Relocated to Antigua & Barbuda and entered sustained legal, civic, and informational confrontation over media power, safeguarding, and accountability at Commonwealth scale.