TikTok is investigating a possible breach of UK sanctions after flagging concerns to a Treasury watchdog.
The Chinese-owned video-sharing business said on Thursday that it had reported itself to the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) because of a “potential issue” linked to sanctions rules.
TikTok, which is owned by China-headquartered ByteDance, refused to disclose what the possible breach may have involved.
The Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) is an arm of the Treasury, which enforces sanctions rules.
Its sanctions list covers hundreds of individuals worldwide, as well as dozens of Russian businesses, front companies and energy giants.
The disclosure by TikTok’s international arm, which includes the UK and most major markets outside the US and China, comes after the social media business was forced to carve off its American division under threats from Donald Trump.
According to accounts for the international arm, TikTok Information Technologies UK, the business also set aside $1.05bn for potential legal battles and regulatory investigations. This was 13pc higher than last year.
TikTok was split in two in January, with its US business transferred to a new company, USDS Joint Venture, partly owned by US investors, while Beijing-headquartered ByteDance kept a minority shareholding.
The social media company, known for its viral videos, has faced years of scrutiny because of its ownership and China’s influence on the business. TikTok always denied posing a national security risk.
After facing an outright block in the US, Mr Trump delayed the ban until a deal was agreed to spin off its US app.
TikTok has previously faced hundreds of millions in fines from European watchdogs and a series of investigations because of issues such as data processing and child safety.
Ofcom, Britain’s communications watchdog, began a formal investigation last month into whether it is protecting children from being exposed to harmful material online.
TikTok said at the time that it “strictly enforces age-appropriate experiences” and that it had invested billions in child safety.
According to accounts filed with Companies House this week, TikTok’s international revenues climbed to $9.2bn (£6.74bn), up 45.7pc. It also swung to a profit of almost $452m.
The business represents TikTok’s operations across the UK, Europe, South and Central America and Africa. In China, a separate app, Douyin, acts as a sister business to TikTok.
The OFSI, the UK’s sanctions regulator, has been cracking down on companies caught doing business with Russia, with some £28.7bn of frozen Russian assets reported to the regulator.
It handed Apple a £390,000 penalty in March for two payments that the tech giant accidentally made to a Russian streaming app in 2022.
The watchdog said Apple was not aware that the app was owned by a bank controlled by Moscow that was sanctioned when it made the payments.
TikTok and OFSI declined to comment.
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