TikTok has repeatedly denied accusations that it is under the control of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The company says that it is a private company with no ties to the Chinese government.
TikTok’s Head of Public Policy in the Philippines, Toff Rada, has said that 60% of the company’s shareholders are foreign global institutional firms, and that none of the members of its board of directors are from the Chinese government.
Rada has also said that TikTok’s data is not stored in China, and that the company does not share data with the Chinese government.
Several countries, including the United States and New Zealand, have banned TikTok on government-issued devices over spying fears. The European Commission and Canada have also banned the use of TikTok in its devices, but the social media giant has repeatedly denied accusations that it shares data with the Chinese government.
ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company, has admitted that its China-based employees had accessed Americans’ data but rejected allegations that information was being turned over to authorities.
In January 2023, TikTok was the third most used social media app in the Philippines, according to a study from Meltwater. The Philippine government has said that it is considering banning TikTok, but no decision has been made yet.
Source: PhilNews24 | December 1, 2023
