A recent statement from an FCC Commissioner is pressuring both Apple and Google to ban TikTok. But the question remains — will the two tech giants do so? to do so. 

Brendan Carr, commissioner from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), wrote a letter calling the popular video-sharing app “an unacceptable security risk.”

For this reason, Carr is pushing Apple and Google to remove TikTok from both of their app stores. 

“TikTok is owned by Beijing-based ByteDance — an organization that is beholden to the Communist Party of China and required by the Chinese law to comply with PRC’s surveillance demands.”

— Excerpt from the FCC letter

TikTok has been criticized in the past, but this scrutiny comes from a BuzzFeed News article published on June 17, 2022. 

Will server access and security concerns result in Google and Apple banning TikTok?

This is not the first time that TikTok has been in danger of being eliminated from Apple and Google. It has had very public problems regarding the security of its users’ information. 

Notably, former U.S. President Trump rallied against the billion-user strong app in 2020.

Earlier this year, they settled a series of lawsuits for $92 million. The lawsuits allege the China-based company passed user information on to their government. 

As a result of this, TikTok transferred access to American users’ data to Oracle this June. The Oracle server company is based in the United States. 

However, according to the aforementioned BuzzFeed News article, employees of ByteDance stated the location of the server doesn’t matter. China would still have access to the information.

This was the catalyst for Carr’s letter. 

“[TikTok] will gladly engage with lawmakers to set the record straight regarding BuzzFeed‘s misleading reporting.”

— TikTok statement / Billboard

In the end, whether Google and Apple will ban TikTok is yet to be determined.

At the time of the writing of this article, neither of the companies have responded to the FCC commissioner’s letter.

Disclosure: This content is intended to be used for educational and informational purposes only. Individual results may vary. You should perform your own due diligence and seek the advice from a professional to verify any information on our website or materials that you are relying upon if you choose to make an investment or business decision. Investment, real estate, and business involve great risk and there is no guarantee of performance or results.

We are not attorneys, investment advisers, accountants, tax professionals or financial advisers and any of the content presented should not be taken as professional advice. We recommend seeking the advice of financial professional before you invest, and we accept no liability whatsoever for any loss or damage you may incur.