TikTok Suspends Talks on Opening Headquarters in London, Reports Suggest

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - ByteDance, the parent company of social media giant TikTok has broken off negotiations to open a global headquarters in the United Kingdom over worsening relations between Beijing and London, The Sunday Times reported.

The decision to halt negotiations was made against the backdrop of a "wider geopolitical context", a source told the newspaper. Chinese media and tech firms have been subject to increasing attacks and restrictions led by the United States.

ByteDance had been in talks for several months to launch operations in the UK which could create 3,000 jobs, according to The Sunday Times.

China's flags are seen near a TikTok logo in this illustration picture taken July 16, 2020

© REUTERS / FLORENCE LO

The news comes after London banned Huawei earlier this week from developing 5G networks in the country, in a u-turn from a previous stance that was hailed as London's resistance to pressure from Washington. TikTok itself has been subject to scrutiny as the White House said it was looking into potential national security risks from it and other social media applications.