US now considering banning Chinese social media apps
DHARAMSALA, 7 July: After India, the US is now said to be considering banning Chinese social media apps.
The US is “certainly looking at” banning Chinese social media apps, including Tiktok, US Secretary of state Mike Pompeo has said.
“With respect to Chinese apps on people’s cell phones, I can assure you the United States will get this one right too. I don’t want to get out in front of the President [Donald Trump], but it’s something we’re looking at,” Pompeo has told Fox News when asked whether the United States should be considering a ban on Chinese social media apps.
The US US Secretary of state has further warned that people should only download the app if they want their “private information in the hands of the Chinese Communist Party.”
TikTok, owned by Beijing-based startup ByteDance has long courted criticism from the US politicians as they declare the app a threat to national security because of its ties to China.
Following Pompeo’s remarks, a spokesperson from the Tiktok has said in a statement that “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 development came amid heightened tension between the US and China and days after India banned 59 malicious Chinese mobile apps including Tiktok.
Last week, India announced the move to ban TikTok and 58 other Chinese apps ranging from gaming to music streaming and social media to safeguard the interests of crores of Indian mobile and internet users as it declared them “prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, the security of the state and public order.”
