> The second worry is that as a Chinese firm, ByteDance is subject to laws that require it to work with China’s authorities.

I post this every time this subject comes up, but...

The same applies to any American company, except they are subject to American laws and surveillance. Chinese apps are no worse about privacy/backdoors than the American equivalents. The only thing I would be more concerned about with a Chinese company is IP theft.

edit: As danhak pointed out, this is about defending US Gov interests, not US citizenry.

If there is something I'm misunderstanding, I welcome corrections.