The Biden administration has told TikTok’s Chinese owners (ByteDance) to sell their stake in the popular video-sharing app or the app is at risk banned in the US, the Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday.

The request was made by the U.S. Treasury Department’s Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), the newspaper said, citing sources familiar with the matter, calling the move “big change” in the US government’s policy towards TikTok.

However, according to TikTok executives cited by the publication, 60% of the shares of the parent company ByteDance belong to international investors, 20% to its employees and 20% to its founders. TikTok said the sale “will not deal with what is perceived as a security risk.”

“If the goal is to protect national security, the sale does not solve the problem: a change of ownership will not impose new restrictions on data flows or access,” claimed TikTok spokeswoman Brooke Oberwetter.

“The best way to address national security concerns is with the transparent, US-based protection of US user data and systems and strong third-party monitoring, control and verification, which we already have in place.” Oberwetter added.

The White House has yet to comment on the report. Launched in 2016, the Chinese video sharing app has become popular around the world in recent years, reaching 755 million users worldwide in 2022. Tellingly, two-thirds of American teenagers are now TikTok users.

However, the app has been criticized for allegedly allowing the Chinese government to access users’ sensitive personal data, including location and browsing history.