TikTok announced it would stop offering the app in Hong Kong after the region passed a national security law that gives extended powers to Chinese continental authorities. "Finally, we have decided to stop using TikTok," a government spokesman told Axios.
Global technology companies operating in Hong Kong have expressed concern that the new law could force them to undergo censorship in China. Google, Facebook and Twitter have stopped processing user data requests from the Hong Kong government.
But on the other hand, TikTok is also facing tough control in the US. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in an interview with Fox that "the government is considering banning TikTok and similar Chinese applications." He added that people can only download the application "if they want their personal data to be in the hands of the Chinese Communist Party."
Last week, TikTok was banned from being used in India along with dozens of other Chinese apps.
TikTok - which is owned by Beijing-based ByteDance - has been repeatedly criticized by US politicians over national security over its alleged links to the Chinese government. They claim the company supports China's Communist Party.
TikTok has denied the allegations, saying it operates separately from ByteDance and notes that data centers are located entirely outside of China. A company spokesman told CNN that "national security concerns are unfounded."
TikTok has been downloaded 315 million times in the last three months, making it the most downloaded app in history, according to Sensor Tower. It is still unclear how TikTok will proceed in the future and whether it will be banned in other countries.
Sources: The Verge, CNN
