The Biden administration is pushing ahead with the TikTok sale by its Chinese parent company over security concerns

The Biden administration appears to be playing hardball, pushing for TikTok’s Chinese parent company ByteDance to sell the wildly popular video-sharing app in the US. If it doesn’t happen, a ban is threatened, according to the WSJ.

In a statement obtained by Deadline, TikTok responded to the sales push. “If the goal is to protect national security, divestiture does not solve the problem: a change in ownership will not impose new restrictions on data flow or access.”

“The best way to address national security concerns is transparent, US-based protection of US user data and systems with robust third-party monitoring, review and verification that we are already implementing,” it said. Whatever processes it has, it clearly hasn’t allayed the fears.

Former President Trump tried to force and then ban TikTok sales, but lost several rounds in court before dropping the case. Two separate judges ruled against orders that would not have made the app available for new downloads in app stores in the fall of 2020. Earlier in his tenure, Trump issued an executive order requiring ByteDance to sell the American portion of the platform to American owners. Microsoft made an offer but was turned down. Administration appeared to approve a bid led by Oracle and Walmart, but it never happened.

However, security concerns have already led to service of employee phones being banned across the federal government.

The US Foreign Investment Committee is once again leading the charge. The Wall Street Journal, which first reported the story, said CFIUS is investigating whether TikTok users’ data is safe in the US and wants TikTok sold or spun off by tech giant ByteDance amid tensions between the US and China on the rise.

TikTok’s CEO will testify on Capitol Hill next week.

CFIUS does not appear to provide any information on what the sale will look like in practice.

“This is all a high-stakes poker game, and it’s clear that the Beltway is putting more pressure on ByteDance to strategically sell this important asset in a major move that could have a significant impact,” said analyst Dan Ives. at Wedbush Securities.

“This is a very complex situation as ByteDance’s ownership of TikTok and the golden gem algorithm is a sensitive issue at the heart of this security debate that will not necessarily be resolved by a spin-off or sale of the assets alone. Working with Oracle was key to protecting that data and reassuring the US government that access to consumer data was being blocked in China and Beijing. Clearly, those initial concerns have grown now that the Biden administration has laser-targeted a fork in the road for TikTok,” Ives said.

Competitors like Snapchat and Facebook would benefit greatly from a TikTok ban.