US considers banning TikTok and other Chinese social media

The US is reportedly considering banning TikTok and other Chinese social media apps, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Monday.

In an interview with Fox News, Pompeo said that scrutiny of Chinese apps had increased in parallel to tensions between China and the US.

When asked if a ban of TikTok and other Chinese social media apps was going to take place, Pompeo answered: “We are taking this very seriously. We are certainly looking at it.”

“We have worked on this very issue for a long time,” he said.

“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 danger to American national security,” Pompeo added, citing the two Chinese telecommunications networking companies with which the US government has also had trust issues concerning national security.

“With respect to Chinese apps on peoples’ cellphones, the United States will get this one right too.”

TikTok has been on Washington’s radar since 2019 after concerns arose that the platform censors content and that its data could be accessed by officials in Beijing.

Pompeo said that the US citizens shouldn’t download the app and added: “[Download it] Only if you want your private information in the hands of the Chinese Communist Party.”