US govt targets gaming companies linked to Chinese firm Tencent: Report

The United States government has asked several gaming companies with ties to Chinese firm Tencent, including 'Fortnite' developer Epic Games, to provide information on their data security protocols. According to a report in Bloomberg, the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. (CFIUS) has sent letters to American gaming companies asking them to provide details about their data sharing protocols and handling of personal data of US citizens. 

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The US Treasury Department body has reportedly sent letters to 'League of Legends' producer Riot Games, Epic Games Inc, and other companies. Tencent, which is the world's largest gaming company, has stakes in Epic Games and owns Riot Games. Tencent also bought a five percent stake in Activision Blizzard, developer of the popular game 'Call of Duty'. 

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Trump admin's earlier actions

This comes as the Trump administration is already targetting other Chinese tech companies such as ByteDance's TikTok, WeChat, and Huawei. Donald Trump has asked ByteDance to divest the US operations of TikTok and leave or sell it to some American firm. Trump accuses the Chinese short video sharing app of stealing the personal data of millions of Americans and selling it to the Chinese Communist Party. 

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As there were reports of Oracle inching closer to a deal with TikTok, US President Donald Trump on September 16 raised apprehensions about ByteDance keeping majority stakes in the US operation of the app.  While addressing media, Trump said he was not ready to approve the proposal that would make the Chinese company keep the majority stakes in the US operations.

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(Image Credit: AP)