THE U.S. Government has launched a national security review of TikTok owner Beijing ByteDance Technology Co.’s US$1 billion acquisition of U.S. social media app Musical.ly, Reuters quoted three sources familiar with the matter Saturday.

While the US$1 billion acquisition was completed two years ago, U.S. lawmakers have been calling in recent weeks for a national security probe into TikTok.

TikTok has been growing more popular among U.S. teenagers at a time of growing tensions between China and the United States over trade. About 60 percent of TikTok’s 26.5 million monthly active users in the United States are between the ages of 16 and 24, the company said this year.

The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), which reviews deals by foreign acquirers for potential national security risks, has started to review the Musical.ly deal, the sources said. TikTok did not seek clearance from CFIUS when it acquired Musical.ly, they added, which gives the U.S. security panel scope to investigate it now.

CFIUS is in talks with TikTok about measures it could take to avoid divesting the Musical.ly assets it acquired, the sources said. Details of those talks, referred to by CFIUS as mitigation, could not be learned. The specific concerns that CFIUS has could also not be learned.

“While we cannot comment on ongoing regulatory processes, TikTok has made clear that we have no higher priority than earning the trust of users and regulators in the United States. Part of that effort includes working with Congress and we are committed to doing so,” a TikTok spokesperson said.

“By law, information filed with CFIUS may not be disclosed by CFIUS to the public,” said a spokeswoman for the U.S. Treasury Department, which chairs CFIUS. She added that the U.S. Treasury “does not comment on information relating to specific CFIUS cases, including whether or not certain parties have filed notices for review.”

TikTok allows users to create and share short videos with special effects. The company has said U.S. user data is stored in the United States. TikTok also said China does not have jurisdiction over content of the app, which does not operate in China and is not influenced by any foreign government.

(SD-Agencies)