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China tech

TikTok's regulatory woes cast a cloud over parent Bytedance

Video platform accused of endangering children and illegal data gathering

TikTok allows users to share 15-second videos and is hugely popular with teens and tweens. (Getty Images)

HONG KONG -- When Chinese social media app TikTok surpassed Facebook and Instagram in number of downloads in January, it seemed further confirmation that an IPO for its parent company ByteDance was only a matter of time.

That was before TikTok -- which allows users to post 15-second videos -- was hit by a string of scandals in recent days that has raised questions over the prospects for a widely speculated ByteDance listing later this year.

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