The strange, unexplained journey of ToTok in Google Play fuels user suspicions
https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2020/02/google-removes-reinstates-and-removes-totok-app-said-to-spy-for-uae-government/
In late December, Google and Apple removed the ToTok social messaging app from their marketplaces after US intelligence officials told The New York Times it was a tool for surreptitious spying by the United Arab Emirates government. About a week later, Google reinstated the Android version of the app with no explanation, a move that confounded app users and security experts. Now Google has once again baffled industry watchers by once again banishing the app without saying why. (Apple, meanwhile, has continued to keep the iOS version of ToTok out of the App Store.)