Recent news reports in Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom indicate that there is some pressure for a TikTok ban or forced sale along the lines of what is currently being considered in the United States, or for a similar measure, although there is no sign of imminent action.

At two press conferences today, Chinese government officials responded to the U.S. bill that would either force a divestment of TikTok or ban the app from the U.S. market, calling it unfair and vowing to take "all necessary measures."

As the push to either ban or force the divestment of social media platform TikTok is gaining momentum in the United States, the prospect of a divestment faces regulatory obstacles in China as well.

Last week, a federal district court judge issued a preliminary injunction that prevents a Montana law banning TikTok from taking effect, finding that the law violates several provisions of the U.S. Constitution.

As part of a wrongful dismissal suit filed in May, Yintao Yu, the former head of engineering for ByteDance’s U.S. operations, alleged that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has "supreme access" to all the company's data, including data stored in the U.S.

The state of Montana passed a law last week banning TikTok, which is owned by Chinese company ByteDance, from being downloaded within its borders. TikTok and others have now filed lawsuits challenging this ban in U.S. court.

Last week, the UK Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) issued a £12,700,000 fine on TikTok for "a number of breaches of data protection law, including failing to use children’s personal data lawfully."