The problems for TikTok are far from over. The US secretary of State Mike Pompeo has said that the Trump administration was looking at banning Chinese social media apps including TikTok.
In an interview with Fox News, Pompeo said that the US government was taking this very seriously.
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, but it’s something we’re looking at.
Pompeo added that people should only download the app if they wanted all their information to be in the hand of the Chinese.
Meanwhile, a TikTok spokesperson responded following Pompeo’s comments:
TikTok is led by an American CEO, with hundreds of employees and key leaders across safety, security, product, and public policy here in the US… “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.
TikTok is owned by Beijing-based ByteDance and has been criticised by US politicians who have accused the app of being a threat to national security.