Social-Media
President Trump claims he's going to ban TikTok in the US today
President Trump told reporters that he was preparing to bar TikTok from working in the US. As far as TikTok is concerned, we 're barring them from the United States, Trump said to Air Force One reporters on Friday night. Bloomberg says that Trump has suggested that he is willing to sign a decree ordering the ban as early as today, either by an executive order or through emergency economic forces.
I will sign the paper tomorrow, Trump said on Friday night, suggesting that a moratorium will take place essentially overnight.
The prospect of a ban on TikTok has been lingering after Secretary of State Mike Pompeo discussed the idea on 7 July that it was something we're looking at.
TikTok is a division of Beijing-based ByteDance, and analysts have called for its surveillance policies and alleged links with the Chinese government. Pompeo also related TikTok to Huawei and ZTE, two Chinese firms that have been described as a danger to US national security.
TikTok U.S. General Manager Vanessa Pappas praised the U.S. company's fans in a video on Saturday. We've seen the outpouring of encouragement, she said, adding, we 're not going to go anywhere. The organization will bring 10,000 workers to the US in the next three years, Pappas added. "We've been here for the long term.
Reports on Friday suggested the Trump administration would potentially force TikTok 's Chinese owner to divest it. Such a move triggered rumors about Microsoft potentially acquiring TikTok's US operations, a move that Trump appeared to downplay on Friday. [It's] not the contract you've been hearing from, where they're going to buy and sell, and that and that. Then there's Microsoft and another one. We 're not an M&A corporation, Trump said.
It's still not clear precisely whether the Trump administration is going to impose a ban on TikTok in the US. There are several different approaches, but a network block like China's Great Firewall will clearly be unparalleled in the US. American legislation has no history for banning apps in such a way, and it is doubtful that the White House will be able to automatically block TikTok with a ban on networking.
