US President Donald Trump says they are going to sign to have TikTok banned in the US over how the Chinese-owned company uses Americans' data.
Trump says they can use the emergency economic powers or sign an executive order to ban the Chinese-owned company from the US.
The announcement comes weeks after Trump critics used TikTok to try to inflate expectations for turnout at the president's rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Trump’s presidential campaign pages have been running ads on Facebook and Instagram against TikTok since then.
The U.S. Navy last year urged service members to delete the app from government devices.
Trump's threat to bar TikTok comes as the administration investigates whether the app's Chinese parent company, ByteDance, is harvesting data from Americans.
TikTok U.S. General Manager Vanessa Pappas says millions of Americans use TikTok every day bringing their creativity and joy into daily lives.
Pappas says they are not planning on going anywhere as TikTok is a home for creators and artists to express themselves, their ideas and connect with people across different backgrounds.
She says Tik Tok employes over 1,000 Americans and will be providing employment for 10,000 people in the US over the next three years.
In a statement, Tik Tok says that US user data is stored in the US, with strict controls on employee access and the company's biggest investors come from the US.
[Source: NY Times/CNN]
