ANALYSIS: How a CFIUS Review Led to a Possible TikTok Ban

The threat of a potential TikTok ban in the US has been making the news over the past several weeks. But how did the video platform get here?

It started when TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, acquired US social media app Musical.ly in 2017 and merged its operations with TikTok. Two years after the deal closed, the Committee of Foreign Investment in the US (CFIUS) called the parties in for a review of the merger on the grounds of potential national security threats.

The deal is an illustration of how parties to a foreign merger may want to voluntarily ...