“We ban them from the United States”: Donald Trump on TikTok
Washington DC:
President Donald Trump said on Friday he would ban the fast-growing social media app TikTok in the United States, with US officials expressing concerns that the service could be a tool for Chinese intelligence.
In recent weeks, U.S. officials and lawmakers have expressed fears that the highly popular video platform could be used by Beijing for nefarious purposes, but the company has denied any connection to the Chinese government.
Media circulated earlier on Friday saying Trump would demand that the app’s U.S. operations be divested from its Chinese parent company ByteDance, but the president announced a ban.
Speaking to reporters on Air Force One, Trump said, “Regarding TikTok, we are banning them from the United States.”
He added he would take action as early as Saturday using emergency economic power or a decree.
Trump’s move follows a review by the U.S. Foreign Investment Committee (CFIUS), which is investigating agreements affecting U.S. national security.
TikTok, especially popular with the younger audience who create and watch its short videos, has around one billion users worldwide.
Asked by AFP, TikTok declined to comment on reports of forced sales, saying only, “We are confident in TikTok’s long-term success.
“Hundreds of millions of people come to TikTok to be entertained and to connect, including our community of creators and artists who are building livelihoods from the platform.”
The firm committed this week to a high level of transparency, in particular by allowing reviews of its algorithms, to assure users and regulators.
“We are not political, we do not accept political publicity and have no agenda – our only goal is to remain a vibrant and dynamic platform for everyone to enjoy,” said Kevin Mayer, CEO of TikTok this week.
“TikTok has become the last target, but we are not the enemy.”
The platform’s popularity increased after ByteDance acquired the American application Musical.ly in 2017 and merged it with its own video service.
James Lewis, head of the technology policy program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said he believed the security risk from using TikTok was “close to zero” but that ByteDance could face the pressure from China to engage in censorship.
“Looks like ByteDance may be crushed by Beijing, so their divestment makes sense,” Lewis said. “They could start censoring stuff.”
Lewis said U.S. authorities under CFIUS had the power to reverse a previously approved acquisition and similar action was taken in 2019 with the dating app Grindr after it was taken over by a Chinese company.
(Except for the title, this story was not edited by GalacticGaming staff and is posted from a syndicated feed.)
