TikTok seems to be amongst the most affected by the ongoing feud between China and some countries. The short-form video app was subject to being recently banned in India as national security concerns was the reason given behind such a step. And now, it looks as if the US government is too looking to take a similar step.
The US secretary of State in Mike Pompeo recently went on to claim that the US is “taking this very seriously” and is “certainly looking at it” banning Chinese social media apps – amongst which is of course TikTok.
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The secretary of state proceeded on to say : “I don’t want to get out in front of the President, but it’s something we’re looking at.”
Responding to question whether Americans should actually download the app, Pompeo said : “Only if you want your private information in the hands of the Chinese Communist Party.”
These comments from the influential member come in light of all the trade tensions that are surrounding the two most powerful economies in the world in the US and China. There have been major consequences for many parties involved, with smartphone makers such as Huawei and ZTE as well as Chinese apps being severely affected by all that has been going on in recent times. Tiktok though has remained an exception.
The US government is already engaged in the process of conducting a national security review of the app as well as its parent company in ByteDance. Lawmakers are led to believe that TikTok actually sends data to servers based in China and that its parent company in ByteDance has no option other than sharing the data with the Chinese government. This is also probably the reason why as to the US Department of Defense told its employees back in January not to install the app until the ongoing review is subject to completion.
