Microsoft is in talks to buy controversial Chinese-owned app TikTok
MICROSOFT is in talks to buy controversial app TikTok.
Negotiations are thought to be at an early stage and come as the US considers a ban of the Chinese-owned app over personal data concerns.
Neither firm has confirmed the talks and a deal could face many hurdles.
TikTok lets users upload and share short videos.
It recently backed away from making the UK its global headquarters amid rising tensions between Britain and China.
It was the world’s second most downloaded app in the third quarter of 2019, with an estimated 176 million downloads.
It has exploded in popularity in lockdown.
The popular social network app is most popular among children under 16.
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Officially, the TikTok app requires that users be at least 13 years old to access it.
A investigation came across several accounts run by children under 13 - with some as young as nine years old.
The report also found the video-sharing app failed to remove online predators who were sending sexual messages to teenagers and children.
TIKTOK: A BRIEF GUIDE TO THE WORLD'S MOST DOWNLOADED APP
TikTok lets users create and share short videos with music and camera effects.
It is owned by Beijing-based ByteDance, founded by the entrepreneur Zhang Yiming.
The $75 billion conglomerate acquired the Musical.ly app in 2017 and merged it with TikTok, bringing millions of new users.
It is the world’s most downloaded iPhone app – with nearly 800 million downloads across the globe, according to data from mobile research firm Sensor Tower.
Facebook has taken notice of TikTok's rising popularity, and launched a competitor app called Lasso in November last year.
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