Dec 28, 2019 - World

WSJ: TikTok wants to move out of China

Orion Rummler

Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios

TikTok's parent company, ByteDance, is weighing its options for building TikTok's global headquarters outside of China, the Wall Street Journal (subscription) reports.

The big picture: The video-sharing app is likely trying to distance itself from its Chinese ownership amid concerns around its user data and possible censorship on issues deemed off-limits by the Chinese Communist Party.

Catch up quick: Singapore, Dublin, and London are potential cities on TikTok's shortlist, per the WSJ. No U.S. cities are currently under consideration.

What they're saying: One person told the WSJ that TikTok's move outside of China has been internally discussed for months, but the initiative is “only accelerating because of the things happening in the U.S."

Flashback: TikTok apologized in November for temporarily deleting a viral post that compared China's mass detention of Uighur Muslims to the Holocaust. TikTok cited a "human moderation error."

Go deeper: TikTok is China's next big weapon

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WSJ: TikTok wants to move out of China

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