Secretary Of State Mike Pompeo Says U.S. Is Considering Banning App ‘TikTok’ Due To Privacy Issues

While speaking with Fox News on Monday, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that the United States is considering the possibility of banning popular social media platform TikTok as concerns grow over Chinese surveillance. 

Pompeo said that this issue is being taken seriously and has been a discussion for a while now. “We are taking this very seriously and we are certainly looking at it. We have worked on this very issue for a long time, whether it’s the problem of having Huawei technology in your infrastructure – we’ve gone all over the world and we are making real progress getting that out – we had declared ZTE a danger to American national security. With respect to Chinese apps on people’s cell phones, I can assure you the United States will get this one right too.”

The United States would not be the first country to ban TikTok, as India did so last week. In a statement, a TikTok spokesperson said that the company has “never provided user data to the Chinese government, nor would we do so if asked. TikTok is led by an American CEO, with hundreds of employees and key leaders across safety, security, product and public policy in the U.S. We have no higher priority than promoting a safe and secure app experience for our users.”

TikTok has grown immensely popular in the United States during the coronavirus pandemic with various social media and dance challenges by its users.