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Ammon News - The future of TikTok is mired in uncertainty in the United States after the House of Representatives passed a bill last week which could ultimately lead to the wildly popular video app being banned.

US lawmakers are concerned about Beijing’s influence over the app, and are trying to force its Chinese owner to give up control.

In particular, they worry that TikTok, which is owned by Beijing-based ByteDance, could share data with the Chinese government or manipulate content displayed on its platform. So far, there’s little evidence to support these concerns.

TikTok has never operated in mainland China — a fact that its Singaporean CEO, Shou Chew, has repeatedly touted when grilled by American officials. So, just how “Chinese” is it, and why does that matter?

Is TikTok Chinese?
On the face of it, the answer would appear to be “no.” It was first incorporated in California in April 2015, according to US court documents.

TikTok has never existed in mainland China, though the app was available in Hong Kong until July 2020, when it pulled out shortly after Beijing imposed a controversial national security law in the city.

At the time, the app was trying to distance itself from China in the face of growing pressure from the Trump administration.

In China, there is a different version of TikTok: a sister app called Douyin.

It launched before TikTok and became a viral sensation in the massive mainland market. Its powerful algorithm became the foundation for TikTok and is key to its global success.

In March 2023, CEO Chew was repeatedly pressed by US lawmakers on whether TikTok was Chinese. He didn’t answer the question directly, saying only that the app was not available in the country and that it was headquartered in Los Angles and Singapore.

But TikTok is ultimately owned, through a complex multi-layered corporate structure, by ByteDance, a privately owned technology giant.

The app is owned by TikTok LLC, a limited liability company incorporated in Delaware and based in Culver City, California. The LLC is controlled by TikTok Ltd, which is registered in the Cayman Islands and based in Shanghai. That firm is ultimately owned by ByteDance Ltd, also incorporated in the Cayman Islands and based in Beijing.

ByteDance’s website shows that the company developed TikTok as a global short video product and formally launched it in May 2017. Six months later, it acquired rival Musical.ly and subsequently merged it with the main platform.

According to TikTok’s own website, its subsidiaries around the world are all structured under Bytedance Ltd.

CNN