BREAKING: President Trump says he plans to ban TikTok from the U.S.
About 5 hours ago we wrote about a report that Microsoft is in talks to buy China’s TikTok U.S. operations. Now, it seems ByteDance-owned TikTok has no option left but to sell U.S investor. According to a report from AP aboard Air Force One, President Donald Trump says he plans to ban the Chinese-owned social media platform from operating in the United States as soon as Saturday.
President Trump made the announcement to reporters Friday on Air Force One as he returned from Tampa, Florida. The President said:
“As far as TikTok is concerned, we’re banning them from the United States,”
TikTok has faced scrutiny from the U.S. government over its handling of user data and amid larger tensions between the United States and China. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Monday that the United States is “looking at” banning popular Chinese video app TikTok in the wake of the new law in Hong Kong.
TikTok, a social video app which allows users to create short videos with special effects and has become wildly popular with teenagers in the US. Earlier this year, TikTok was the third most popular app among US teens. Currently, TikTok has more than 800 million users worldwide.