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TikTok's response to national security concerns in Washington : The Indicator from Planet Money Americans love TikTok – 100 million of them and counting. So why are politicians at the federal, state and local levels on both sides of the aisle calling for the China-owned social media app to be banned? We peer behind the rhetoric to see if there's anything to the labeling of TikTok as a national security threat. And we hear about the extraordinary plan the company has devised to stave off extinction in the U.S.

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The Indicator from Planet Money

Is Project Texas enough to save TikTok?

Is Project Texas enough to save TikTok?

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WASHINGTON, DC - AUGUST 07: In this photo illustration, the TikTok app is displayed on an Apple iPhone on August 7, 2020 in Washington, DC. On Thursday evening, President Donald Trump signed an executive order that bans any transactions between the parent company of TikTok, ByteDance, and U.S. citizens due to national security reasons.(Photo Illustration by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
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Drew Angerer/Getty Images
WASHINGTON, DC - AUGUST 07: In this photo illustration, the TikTok app is displayed on an Apple iPhone on August 7, 2020 in Washington, DC. On Thursday evening, President Donald Trump signed an executive order that bans any transactions between the parent company of TikTok, ByteDance, and U.S. citizens due to national security reasons.(Photo Illustration by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
Drew Angerer/Getty Images

TikTok is facing an existential threat in the U.S. The popular social media app has already been banned from federal devices, with several state and local governments around the country following suit. A movement to ban the app entirely is growing in Washington based on fears that the China-owned app poses a threat to national security.

Today we hear about the extraordinary lengths the company is going to to prevent its extinction in the U.S.

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For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.