TikTok mulls shifting headquarters to London to distance itself from China: Reports

TikTok is considering shifting its headquarters to London, the United Kingdom in order to distance itself from its Chinese ownership, according to media reports. The subsidiary of ByteDance, a Chinese company is facing heavy scrutiny in the United States and several other countries because of its link to the Communist state because of which the short video sharing platform is reportedly thinking of relocating to London. However, there are also reports that TikTok's plan to set-up its global headquarters in the UK may have to be dropped because of growing pressure by Washington on London. 

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TikTok is currently based out of Culver City, California in the United States and has global offices in major cities across the world. The United States, which has already implemented sanctions against Chinese mobile service provider Huawei, is reportedly planning to ban TikTok from its territory. The United States has accused TikTok of sharing personal data of US citizens with the Chinese Communist Party and has reportedly warned the company to either become an American firm or face a ban. The company in June hired former Walt Disney executive Kevin Mayer as CEO of TikTok and COO of parent company ByteDance.

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TikTok's India ban

TikTok was banned from India, one of its largest markets, last month after the Indian government accused the company of stealing users' data in an unauthorized manner and transferring it outside the country. TikTok along with 58 other apps was banned in order to protect the data and privacy of Indian citizens, said the government while imposing the ban. 

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