TikTok’s business in North America is increasingly embattled amid national security and intelligence concerns.
Bloomberg revealed this week that, in September, the US Congress summoned representatives from Amazon for a closed-door meeting.
The e-tail giant was pushed to answer questions about its deepening relationship with TikTok, which is owned by Chinese company Bytedance.
A spokesperson for the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party confirmed the meeting, Bloomberg reported, which centred on a shopping deal between Amazon and TikTok announced in August.
The agreement allows the video sharing app’s users to link their account with Amazon and make purchases from the site without leaving TikTok.
In April, a bill to ban the use of TikTok in America unless the app is divested from Bytedance was approved by the US Senate and signed into law by outgoing President Joe Biden.
The news of Amazon’s Capitol Hill summons breaks just a week after the Canadian government ordered the wind-up of TikTok Technology Canada.
This followed a national security review under the Investment Canada Act, which allows for the review of foreign investments that may threaten Canada’s national security.
On 6 November, François-Philippe Champagne, Canada’s Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, said the government was “taking action to address the specific national security risks” related to Bytedance’s operations in Canada through the establishment of TikTok Technology Canada.
He added: “The decision was based on the information and evidence collected over the course of the review and on the advice of Canada’s security and intelligence community and other government partners.
“The government is not blocking Canadians’ access to the TikTok application or their ability to create content.
“The decision to use a social media application or platform is a personal choice.”