The Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that The United States is looking at banning Chinese social media apps such as Tik tok.
“With respect to Chinese apps on people’s cell phones, I can assure you the United States will get this one right too, Laura,” he said. “I don’t want to get out in front of the President, but it’s something we’re looking at.”
Washington’s diplomat also added that people should only download the app “if you want your private information in the hands of the Chinese Communist Party.”
“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,” a TikTok spokesperson said in a statement following Pompeo’s comments. “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.”
Pompeo’s has made the remarks during a crucial time as the relations between US and China are on the edge. These remarks have also made an impact into several arenas including national security, trade and technology.
TikTok ,owned by the Beijing based start-up, has been criticized by US politicians from time to time. They have also accused the video app of being a threat to national security because it is a Chinese based app. They seem to claim that the company can be obligated to support as well as cooperate with the Chinese Communist Party in their intelligence work.
Several declarations have been previously made regarding the operations of data and its safety. Tik tok operates separately from ByteDance. It has also said that the location of its data centers are entirely outside of China. None of that data is subject to Chinese law. US user data is stored in the United States, with a backup in Singapore, according to TikTok.
The app has gained major popularity in the United States and other countries. It was downloaded 315 million times in the first three months of this year, more quarterly downloads than any other app in history, said analytics company Sensor Tower.
