Enjoy your TikTok challenges while you can, they may be your last! The U.S. is “looking at” banning TikTok and other Chinese social media apps, according to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
During a Fox News interview, Pompeo was asked if the U.S. should be looking at banning the popular social media app amid rising tensions between the U.S. and China, according to CNBC. “We are taking this very seriously. We are certainly looking at it,” Pompeo said. “We have worked on this very issue for a long time.”
“Whether it was the problems of having Huawei technology in your infrastructure we’ve gone all over the world and we’re making real progress getting that out. We declared ZTE (a Chinese multinational telecommunications company) a danger to American national security,” Pompeo said. “With respect to Chinese apps on peoples’ cellphones, the United States will get this one right too.”
In a statement obtained by The Shade Room, TikTok said the following:
“TikTok is led by an American CEO, with hundreds of employees and key leaders across safety, security, product, and public policy here in the U.S. We have no higher priority than promoting a safe and secure app experience for our users. We have never provided user data to the Chinese government, nor would we do so if asked.”
The U.S. maintains that Huawei equipment could be used for espionage by Beijing, and that user data could be compromised even though Huawei has repeatedly denied those allegations.
TikTok, owned by Beijing-based ByteDance, has had a target on it for the past year. Officials have been concerned that the platform censors content and that its data could be accessed by Beijing.
Due to the negative publicity, TikTok has tried to distance itself from its Chinese parent company.
The company hired former Disney executive, Kevin Mayer, to be TikTok’s CEO earlier this year, according to CNBC. His priority was seen as rebuilding trust with regulators.
The Trump administration still appears to be skeptical of TikTok however. When asked by Fox News if Americans should download TikTok, Pompeo said: “Only if you want your private information in the hands of the Chinese Communist Party.”
TikTok has previously said that U.S. user data is stored in the United States, with a backup in Singapore. The company also said that its data centers are located entirely outside of China, and none of the app’s data is subject to Chinese law.
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