TikTok has hit back at a recent report that alleges the social media platform is working on a separate version of its app for US users, as a potential ban in the country looms.
The US version of the app would purportedly have a different algorithm and an independent user data storage system to alleviate lawmaker concerns about data being accessible by Chinese officials.
The platform, which is owned by China-based ByteDance, has repeatedly denied that user data is vulnerable or compromised.
"The recently posted Reuters story, which is based on anonymous uninformed sources, is factually inaccurate," read a statement issued on Thursday by the social media company.
The National contacted to TikTok for further comment and was referred to the earlier statement.
The statement comes weeks after President Donald Trump granted a third 90-day stay on the ban, approved by Congress last year. Congress originally gave ByteDance until mid-January to divest from the platform due to national security concerns over user data.
As a result of the most recent extension, ByteDance now has until September 17 to divest TikTok from its portfolio, or risk going dark in the US.
Mr Trump said about a week ago that his administration had identified buyers for TikTok, although he declined to name anyone and acknowledged he still needed approval from Beijing.
The app briefly was inaccessible in the US on January 18, as the initial deadline set by Congress was about to go into effect, but shortly after being sworn in on January 20, Mr Trump signed an executive order granting ByteDance an extension.
Although user confidence in the viability of platform was briefly shaken, it bounced back.
Yet for advertisers who help fuel TikTok's revenue, it took longer to rebound.
"I think they're still iffy about it," said Matt Navarra, a social media consultant and analyst.
"Confidence isn't back to 100 per cent because ad buyers aren't just measuring potential social media engagement, they're also factoring in geopolitical risk."
Mr Navarra pointed out that businesses wouldn't want their advertising campaigns to be snuffed out by a potential ban, nor would they want to be associated with a banned app.
Regardless of whether TikTok will in fact introduce a new version of the social media app for the US market, questions abound about how the new app would function.
Some have argued that a new app would make the sale of TikTok assets to a US entity easier, while others have said that an independent app would make it easier for ByteDance to maintain control over the platform's main assets.
"I think this move smells more like a pressure valve for public relations and political optics and any genuine structural change," said Mr Navarra, speculating on the potential of a different version of TikTok's app.
"If users think they're on a safe version and regulators buy into it, that might buy TikTok some time."
But he cautioned that a hypothetical new version of the app would also come under intense scrutiny.
"I think tech insiders and privacy advocates will tear it apart within hours of launch," he said.
This week has been particularly turbulent for TikTok in various parts of the world.
In Canada, concerns about TikTok's ownership prompted lawmakers to order that the platform's offices be closed in the country, although the app itself will not be banned.
In Ireland, the country's data protection commission opened an inquiry into user data being stored on servers in China.
"The purpose of the inquiry is to determine whether TikTok has complied with its relevant obligations under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)," a statement read.
Tearful appearance
Chancellor Rachel Reeves set markets on edge as she appeared visibly distraught in parliament on Wednesday.
Legislative setbacks for the government have blown a new hole in the budgetary calculations at a time when the deficit is stubbornly large and the economy is struggling to grow.
She appeared with Keir Starmer on Thursday and the pair embraced, but he had failed to give her his backing as she cried a day earlier.
A spokesman said her upset demeanour was due to a personal matter.
Yahya Al Ghassani's bio
Date of birth: April 18, 1998
Playing position: Winger
Clubs: 2015-2017 – Al Ahli Dubai; March-June 2018 – Paris FC; August – Al Wahda
Pharaoh's curse
British aristocrat Lord Carnarvon, who funded the expedition to find the Tutankhamun tomb, died in a Cairo hotel four months after the crypt was opened.
He had been in poor health for many years after a car crash, and a mosquito bite made worse by a shaving cut led to blood poisoning and pneumonia.
Reports at the time said Lord Carnarvon suffered from “pain as the inflammation affected the nasal passages and eyes”.
Decades later, scientists contended he had died of aspergillosis after inhaling spores of the fungus aspergillus in the tomb, which can lie dormant for months. The fact several others who entered were also found dead withiin a short time led to the myth of the curse.
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Abu Dhabi traffic facts
Drivers in Abu Dhabi spend 10 per cent longer in congested conditions than they would on a free-flowing road
The highest volume of traffic on the roads is found between 7am and 8am on a Sunday.
Travelling before 7am on a Sunday could save up to four hours per year on a 30-minute commute.
The day was the least congestion in Abu Dhabi in 2019 was Tuesday, August 13.
The highest levels of traffic were found on Sunday, November 10.
Drivers in Abu Dhabi lost 41 hours spent in traffic jams in rush hour during 2019
Six tips to secure your smart home
Most smart home devices are controlled via the owner's smartphone. Therefore, if you are using public wi-fi on your phone, always use a VPN (virtual private network) that offers strong security features and anonymises your internet connection.
Keep your smart home devices’ software up-to-date. Device makers often send regular updates - follow them without fail as they could provide protection from a new security risk.
Use two-factor authentication so that in addition to a password, your identity is authenticated by a second sign-in step like a code sent to your mobile number.
Set up a separate guest network for acquaintances and visitors to ensure the privacy of your IoT devices’ network.
Change the default privacy and security settings of your IoT devices to take extra steps to secure yourself and your home.
Always give your router a unique name, replacing the one generated by the manufacturer, to ensure a hacker cannot ascertain its make or model number.
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
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More from Rashmee Roshan Lall
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
Ferrari 12Cilindri specs
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MOUNTAINHEAD REVIEW
Starring: Ramy Youssef, Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman
Director: Jesse Armstrong
Rating: 3.5/5
THE BIO
BIO:
Born in RAK on December 9, 1983
Lives in Abu Dhabi with her family
She graduated from Emirates University in 2007 with a BA in architectural engineering
Her motto in life is her grandmother’s saying “That who created you will not have you get lost”
Her ambition is to spread UAE’s culture of love and acceptance through serving coffee, the country’s traditional coffee in particular.
