President Donald Trump has announced he plans to ban the Chinese-owned video-sharing app TikTok in the United States. He told reporters aboard Air Force One he could sign an executive order as early as Saturday.
US security officials have expressed concern that the app, owned by Chinese firm ByteDance, could be used to collect the personal data of Americans.
The fast-growing app has up to 80 million active monthly users in America and the ban would be a major blow for ByteDance.
“As far as TikTok is concerned, we’re banning them from the United States,” Mr Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One.
Microsoft has reportedly been in talks to buy the app from ByteDance, but Mr Trump appeared to cast doubt that such a deal would be allowed to go through. If the deal went ahead reports say it would involve ByteDance shedding TikTok’s US operations.
The move to ban TikTok comes at a time of heightened tensions between the Trump administration and the Chinese government over a number of issues, including trade disputes and Beijing’s handling of the coronavirus outbreak.
He did not specify how he intended to achieve what he described as a “severance,” but he could do it through executive action as early as this weekend. [Trump said], “I have that authority. I can do it with an executive order…”
It comes days after Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden told staff to remove TikTok from their work and personal devices due to security concerns, according to a source within the campaign.
The US has long accused China of intellectual property theft which costs billions of dollars and thousands of jobs, something Beijing denies.
The other main concern is national security, with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo having previously described Chinese state-backed tech companies as “Trojan horses for Chinese intelligence.”
MacDailyNews Take: Tick tock, TikTok. (Sorry, we had to.) This is a negotiating tactic designed to get ByteDance to sell TikTok outright, with no strings attached and no data transfer, to a U.S.-based company if they want to continue to operate in the U.S.
He could get a job at the App Store!
You don’t think it is a clever ploy by the President to win the hearts and minds of the millions of voters who use TikTok every day?
Useless Trump daily detractor, it is about the president standing up to Chinese spying on U.S. citizens. “Presidential candidate Joe Biden told staff to remove TikTok from their work and personal devices due to security concerns” what part do you not understand coming from both parties?
And then the Chinese follow up by banning YouTube in China. Escalating a Cold War does no one any good.
You might want to do a little research before posting stuff.
youtube, google, FB, snap, instagram already banned
And the Russians have banned most of them too.
its about time we banned TikTok. The CCP has been caught red handed collecting data and setting up profiles on American citizens. 32.5% of United States users age 10-19. Only 9% of US internet users have used TikTok, with 5% more interested in using it; this rises to 49% for teenage users…
so lets connect the dots. China Bands all USA based social media apps from its 1.4 billion citizens. Then expect us to “allow free speech and not sensor” Tic Tok as it collects date on or citizens and children. Seems fair.
Whats amazing is all the people that will sale out common sense for a chance to stick it to the orange man. I bet if this was a Biden or Obama plan Team blue would be behind the boycott 100 percent. Now then again do we really see Bidden standing up the CCP. Every president since Richard Nixon has sold out the interest of the American people for a CCP profit.
including – Nixon, Carter, Regan, Bush1, Clinton, Bush2, Obama/Biden. Everyone of those presidents should us out. The fact is Orange man Trump is the only President to stand up to the CCP in a meaningful way. Kinda funny how Covid 19 (CCP hidden) virus is taking him down.
Stop using facts, it really pisses of the liberals
Yep, all prior have either been fooled, or acquiesced with the belief that “including“ China in the World’s market place would liberalize their politics…move them away from Communism. I’m sure some continued with the status quo because the riches seen were too hard to resist.
It’s curious that Nixon himself, stated; “the world cannot be safe until China changes.”
but he also knew it was a significant “strategic gamble.”
In hindsight and fairly close to his passing, he pondered, “ We may have created a Frankenstein.”
Love him, hate him, and or, think this is a terrible time to introduce strife with China…all positions are reasonable, but the overriding point is that China never changed and we’re seeing Nixon’s “danger” play out in advanced stages and Trump is the ONLY US official in 5 decades to heartily challenge their encroachment…that could have existential impact on all countries embracing freedom and heralding sovereignty.
To think this is sensationalistic is, frankly, naive.
Yes, but all past presidents, apparently, operated with the logical fallacy that equated democracy with Capitalism Lite to radical Capitalism; Democracy is not Capitalism, it’s justice and the US Constitution.
But after China turned radically Capitalistic to outdo even the US in most cases it unexpectedly turned the tables, outdoing even the master. Of course, the US did not intended this dog-eat-dog consequence when history showed that all nations have complied to the US’s yoke otherwise the US invades or installed a satrap governance. The US did not listen to Wall St. analysts whose only meaningful truth is, “Past performance is no guarantee of future results.” Don’t assume an investment will continue to do well in the future simply because it’s done well in the past.
Good points, but I will focus on a couple.
We haven’t censored not because of what China is, we don’t censor because of who we are.
It is corporate greed that influenced the politician and brought about globalization. Also, globalization isn’t entirely bad. It raised the standard of living in some countries to a degree. But I’ll yield. If China needs punishing, we will e punished too.
Maybe the Orange demon should demand sale to Russia. I guess that would be okay.
I won’t get into the abandonment of common sense by Team Orange voters. The evidence would fill pages of bulletpoints.
“We haven’t censored not because of what China is, we don’t censor because of who we are.
I agree with this, thats why the motivation of banning TikTok is not about “free speech” or freedom of ideas but about banning them because the are preying on children and American citizens.
“sticks and stones my break my bones but names will never hurt me”
But not with the CCP. Heck they censored Winnie the Pooh.
and for your entertainment 🙂
And let it reflect on them. I’m glad we’re not them, but authoritarianism is the difference.
kind of a side note…I just read a pretty smart person that stated globalization figures in strongly to the financial wealth chasm that exists and that’s getting larger.
It’s not the only factor, but a clear player and it one of the most important deficiencies in the US and it’s magnified by the effects of the V and the Fed’s playing around with hand-outs (again).
Back to the Orange Man….
The largest acceptor of hand outs is the corporation without which it would have to close shop. This is true corporate Socialism which fake Capitalists thrive upon and Wall St. loves which is why its stock market rises and rises.
Team Orange voters are the smartest and most common sense people on Planet Earth. Obviously, you are not…
Hot air nothing meaningful has changed, but something big will change on Nov 7 in the USA. Trumpet will be gone…..
“Trumpet will be gone…..”
iCaled…
Because they chose not to comply. Apple complies.
Everything Drumpf touches turns to crap or is destroyed. All he does is hurt, inflame, corrupt, KILL. He is a mass murderer- of people, institutions, and inevitably our democracy and the planet.
Turn off the cartoons…
Change your diaper.
… then surrender to the Chinese yourself. Not me.
Tick-tock-tic…it’s getting chillier in here almost everyday.
Sure, give all the power to your Liberal enemies: Facebook, Twitter, Google, etc
Bad idea!!!
The West coast is carrying those red flyover area’s. The orange grifter isn’t going to help you lying, cheating, and stealing is his calling card.
“It’s off to the courts we go.
It’s off to the courts we go.
Hi-Ho the merry-o.
It’s off to the courts we go.”
Now if he could only focus on that pesky virus. You know the one that’s killed over 155,000 Americans.
I’m trying to work out which is the distraction. Hmmm, what a cynic I’ve become.
The worst president in American history, Trumpet has eclipsed Warren Harding, and Herbert Hoover.
speaking of hot air = broad and conclusive statements without quantification. Name calling puts the speaking in the deficit box, as well. Orange Grifter appears to be one of your faves
The unprecedented most remarkable economic turnaround President in U.S. history! Better than Reagan, JFK and Roosevelt and it comes from a business, not a political pandering background. President Trump is unbelievable being criticized 24/7 and not skipping a beat, not intimidated and fears no one including Dumb Democrats like you…
Boosting the economy is easy when environmental and health & safety laws are repealed. Trump did it without consulting the American people to see if they want an increase of water, land, and air pollution and an increase of exploitation of public land. He did this on his own, like a monarch.
If by remarkable economic turnaround you mean taking Obama’s thriving economy and yielding the worsts quarterly GDP drop in American history, then yep. It’s a turnaround all right.
The economy would have taken a palpable hit from the pandemic even under real leadership, but under this absolute leadership vacuum, this kleptocratic grift-fest, the results have been just devastating. The US may never regain its position of global strength after Trump.