Online and app based businesses are cautioned to think carefully about where they build out their platforms amid a highly volatile marketplace where increased regulation and/or outright bans of some popular platforms are on the horizon. 

In a meeting at the White House today, the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) met to discuss the responsibility of companies to make sure their products are safe for consumers. The White House called for stronger legislation to protect user privacy online. Data Collection and Storage practices and Artificial Intelligence (AI) remain top national security concerns. 

Chief among the concerns is TikTok, over its risk to international security over user data privacy and security issues. 

The United Kingdom announced a final decision today by its Information Commissioner, to fine TikTok  £12.7 ($15.9) million for failing to limit users to age 13 and above. It is the latest push against the app owned by Chinese ByteDance. TikTok faces heightened scrutiny from international regulators and in the U.S. as well, after its CEO testified before Congress and faced heated exchanges, sometimes by lawmakers who seemed not to understand technical nuances of the internet. 

Last week, Utah was the first U.S. state to announce a social media curfew, with a law going into effect next year that will similarly require social media platforms to limit young user access to their apps in the overnight hours. Observers doubt it can be enforced at the user level, but the law aims to penalize the platforms, not parents or kids, for curfew violations. 

Domestic lawmakers at both the state and federal level are framing what an outright TikTok ban would look like, removing it from app stores and closing the VPN loophole many expect the app could try to exploit. The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) is an interagency group considering recommending a forced sale of ByteDance's 2017 investments. But they expect legislation and/or executive orders would be needed in the U.S. to get app distributors, ISPs and cloud services to block access to TikTok.