TikTok will go dark in the U.S unless China agrees to a deal that giving U.S. owners majority control over the video app, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said.

U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick warned that TikTok will be banned in the U.S. unless China approves a deal giving Americans control of its algorithm and technology, as tensions mount ahead of a looming divestment deadline.

The heavily-censored TikTok alternative has more than 300 million monthly active users, mostly in China, as of last year, according to Chinese state media.

For a long time, TikTok insisted any data collected by its servers could not be accessed by anyone in China. In November, the company changed its privacy policy. It now said staff in China could ...