Taiwan probes TikTok unit for 'illegal operations'

Agence France-Presse

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="TikTok. EPA-EFE/file" src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2022/overseas/08/18/tiktok.jpg"/><figcaption>TikTok. <em>EPA-EFE/file</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>TAIPEI - Taiwan has launched a probe into an allegedly illegal subsidiary set up by TikTok on the island as it warned the Chinese-owned social media app was a security risk.</p><p>The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC), Taiwan&#x27;s top China policy-making body, said the cabinet had requested a multi-agency investigation during a meeting on security issues posed by TikTok earlier this month.</p><p>The &quot;illegal operations&quot; case was also forwarded to prosecutors for investigation after a local company allegedly engaged in business activities in Taiwan on behalf of ByteDance, TikTok&#x27;s Chinese parent firm, MAC said without elaborating.</p><p>&quot;In recent years, China has used TikTok and other short videos to conduct cognitive operations to infiltrate other countries,&quot; MAC said in a statement issued late Sunday.</p><p>&quot;There is also a high risk of users&#x27; personal information being collected for the Chinese government.&quot;</p><p>China&#x27;s authoritarian Communist Party claims democratic and self-ruled Taiwan, and has vowed to one day seize it. </p><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" frameBorder="0" height="100%" id="ivsplayer01" scrolling="no" src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/html/iframe-src.html?iframeid=ivsplayer01&amp;key=e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603&amp;spid=3001339&amp;vid=2220225" width="100%"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more News on <a href="https://www.iwanttfc.com/#!/browse/Genres/News/tag_id_genres/id_news" target="_blank">iWantTFC</a></div><p>Relations between Beijing and Taipei are at their worst in years.</p><p>Chinese internet and social media platforms are currently banned from operating businesses in Taiwan under local laws. </p><p>TikTok is available in Taiwan but is not especially popular.</p><p>Local newspaper Liberty Times reported on Monday that the subsidiary under investigation was a company set up in 2018 that changed its name to ByteDance Taiwan Ltd Co in November.</p><p>TikTok has come under increasing pressure, especially in the United States, over its Chinese ownership and whether it poses a national security threat.</p><p>US senators last week voted unanimously to ban the video-sharing app on government phones, part of a growing bipartisan crackdown on TikTok.</p><p>TikTok itself denies being a security risk or beholden to Chinese authorities. </p><p>Taiwan has long warned that it is on the receiving end of huge Chinese disinformation and espionage campaigns.</p><p>It has ramped up scrutiny of Chinese businesses in recent years and imposed investment rules on various key sectors, including the island&#x27;s state of the art semiconductor industry.</p><p>Beijing has increased military, diplomatic and economic pressure on the island since Tsai Ing-wen became Taiwan&#x27;s president in 2016, as she views the island as a sovereign nation and not part of &quot;one China&quot;.</p><p>Taipei has also accused Beijing of stepping up so-called &quot;grey zone&quot; threats, from warplane incursions into its air defence zone to cyberattacks and cognitive warfare.</p><p>aw/jta/sco/smw</p><p>© Agence France-Presse</p><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" frameBorder="0" height="100%" id="ivsplayer01" scrolling="no" src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/html/iframe-src.html?iframeid=ivsplayer01&amp;key=e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603&amp;spid=3001339&amp;vid=2385065" width="100%"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more News on <a href="https://www.iwanttfc.com/#!/browse/Genres/News/tag_id_genres/id_news" target="_blank">iWantTFC</a></div>

Taiwan has launched a probe into an allegedly illegal subsidiary set up by TikTok on the island as it warned the Chinese-owned social media app was a security risk.

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Taiwan probes TikTok unit for 'illegal operations'

Taiwan probes TikTok unit for 'illegal operations'

Agence France-Presse

Published Dec 19, 2022 02:53 PM PHT

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