President Donald Trump said he would take action Saturday to ban TikTok, a popular Chinese-owned video app that has been subjected to censorship and national security disorder.
Trump’s comments came after reports that the administration planned to order ByteDance to sell TikTok. He also reported Friday that the Microsoft software giant is in talks to buy the app.
“As far as TikTok is concerned, we are banning them in the United States,” Trump told reporters Friday at Air Force One on his return from Florida.
Trump said he could use emergency economic powers or an executive order to put the action into effect, insisting that “I have that authority.”
According to reports from Bloomberg News and Wall Street Journal, which mention unidentified sources, the administration could soon announce a resolution ordering ByteDance to sell its stake in TikTok.
ByteDance agreed to divest TikTok’s operations in the United States, according to a Reuters report on Saturday. If the proposed agreement is approved, Microsoft would take over TikTok’s U.S. operations. History noted that the White House has not yet indicated whether it will accept ByteDance’s offer.
There have been reports that tech giants and U.S. monetary corporations are interested in buying or making an investment in TikTok when the Trump administration turned to the app. The New York Times and Fox Business, which mentioned an unidentified source, reported Friday that Microsoft is in talks to buy TikTok. Microsoft declined to comment.
TikTok issued a saying on Friday: “While we don’t comment on rumors or speculation, we’re sure of TikTok’s long-term good fortune.”
ByteDance introduced TikTok in 2017, then bought Musical.ly, a popular video service among teenagers in the United States and Europe, and combined the two. A dual service, Douyin, will be offered to Chinese users.
TikTok’s fun and quirky videos and ease-of-use have made it incredibly popular, and america’s tech giants. As Facebook and Snapchat see it as a competitive threat. He said it had tens of millions of American users and many millions worldwide.
But his Chinese property has raised considerations about video censorship, adding critics of the Chinese government and the ability to share users’ knowledge with Chinese authorities.
TikTok argues that it does not censor videos based on China-sensitive topics and would not give the Chinese government the data of AMERICAN users, even if requested. The company has hired an American CEO, a former senior Disney executive, to distance itself from its Chinese property.
U.S. national security officials have reviewed the acquisition of Musical.ly in recent months, while U.S. army forces have banned their workers from installing TikTok on government-issued phones. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said earlier this month that the U.S. is contemplating banning TikTok.
These national security considerations are consistent with a broader U.S. security offensive against Chinese corporations, adding telecom providers Huawei and ZTE. Trump’s management has ordered the United States to avoid reversing those providers’ apparatus in U.S. networks. It has also tried to steer its allies away from Huawei due to considerations about Chinese government data, which corporations have denied having.
The Trump administration has intervened in the past to block or dissolve agreements on national security issues, adding that it will prevent Broadcom of Singapore from offering its $117 billion offering to US chipmaker Qualcomm in 2018 to help U.S. leadership in the telecommunications space. He also asked Beijing Kunlun Tech Co. that sold its 2016 acquisition of the homosexual dating app Grindr.
Other countries are also taking action against TikTok. India this month banned dozens of Chinese applications, TikTok, raising privacy considerations amid cross-country tensions.
August 1: 7:50 a.m.: Updated with ByteDance’s to divest TikTok’s U.S. operations.
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