After Recent TikTok Bans, China Requests Equitable Treatment

As Britain and New Zealand joined the United States in limiting usage of TikTok amid concerns that the Chinese-owned short video website would pose a security risk, China made a plea to foreign countries on Friday to treat its enterprises equally.

Governments are concerned that ByteDance, the owner of TikTok, may spread propaganda and false material or provide browser history or other information about users to the Chinese government.

According to Wang Wenbin, a spokesman for the foreign ministry, “we call on the concerned nations to understand the objective realities, properly respect the market economy, and offer “a non-discriminatory environment” for all businesses.

Conflicts between China and other countries over technology and security, which are upending the processor chip, smartphone, and other sectors, include TikTok as one of their main points of contention.

The government said Friday that the TikTok app would no longer be permitted for lawmakers and staff members of New Zealand’s Parliament to use on their phones. The United Kingdom issued a ban on TikTok on all government phones on Thursday.

The White House instructed federal organizations to remove TikTok from government-issued mobile devices within 30 days in February. More than half of American state governments, the U.S. military forces, and Congress all forbid their workers from using the program.

TikTok and several other Chinese applications, including the messaging app WeChat, have been blocked in India for security and privacy reasons.

On the basis of security and human rights concerns, the United States has also placed limitations on Chinese enterprises’ access to processor chips and other technologies.

After a Wall Street Journal story that suggested that Washington was mulling a ban on TikTok if ByteDance didn’t sell the firm, the Chinese government accused the United States of disseminating misleading information about the app.

Most Chinese internet users are unable to access TikTok and hundreds of other social media and other websites because of restrictions imposed by the Communist Party, which is in power. In China, Douyin, a sibling short-video service run by ByteDance, is accessible.