TikTok tops the list of the world’s most downloaded apps, according to Nikkei Asia that said it used data compiled by App Annie, a mobile and app data analytics provider headquartered in San Francisco.
TikTok jumped from the fourth-most downloaded app in 2019 to the top of the list in 2020, according to Nikkei’s analysis. Following TikTok’s app are a series of Facebook products that round out the top five most downloaded applications in 2020, namely Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram and Facebook Messenger.
The increasing popularity of TikTok comes as U.S. policymakers’ concerns persist about data security because of TikTok’s China-based owners. American policymakers are worried that U.S. users’ data is jeopardized by China’s policies involving military-civil fusion that removes barriers between the commercial sector, including TikTok’s owner ByteDance, and China’s government.
Sen. Marco Rubio, Florida Republican, wrote to American Airlines CEO Doug Parker last week to request that he halt the airline company’s burgeoning relationship with TikTok. Earlier this month, American Airlines announced that it was working to provide passengers with free access to TikTok without needing to purchase inflight Wi-Fi.
“By partnering with TikTok, American Airlines is now lending its brand credibility to a company that endangers national security and the data security of tens of millions of Americans, many of them minors,” Mr. Rubio wrote in the letter. “I urge you to suspend American Airlines’ “innovative partnership” with TikTok while the U.S. Government completes its investigation into the national security risks posed by the Chinese-owned app.”
American Airlines said it views offering free inflight entertainment as an important service to its customers and strives to provide a wide range of preferences.
“Based on customer feedback, connecting with family and friends through personal accounts on social media platforms while in flight is important to them,” American Airlines spokesperson Stacy Day said in a statement. “With that in mind, we work with our Wi-Fi provider to offer customers more of what they want — a diverse variety of entertainment options, which currently includes TikTok. We do not share any data with TikTok through this offering, nor do we have a direct commercial relationship with the company.”
Mr. Rubio wrote that the U.S. government’s national security review of TikTok began in 2019 and remains ongoing. Amid such concerns, several federal agencies banned the use of TikTok on government devices during the Trump administration, including the State Department, Department of Homeland Security and U.S. military personnel.
The Trump administration also sought to ban TikTok’s app after the former president signed executive orders last year seeking to bar transactions with TikTok’s China-based owner ByteDance.
President Biden then revoked former President Trump’s executive orders aimed at TikTok in June 2021. Mr. Biden replaced Mr. Trump’s order with new executive orders that Mr. Biden’s White House said would create a “criteria-based decision framework” to analyze risks posed by information and communications technology services transactions involving foreign adversaries such as China.
TikTok has not responded to a request for comment.
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