The long twilight struggle for global supremacy between the U. S. and China may soon be fought out in 15-second increments. The Trump administration…
The long twilight struggle for global supremacy between the U. S. and China may soon be fought out in 15-second increments.
The Trump administration for the first time has floated the idea of banning the hugely popular video-sharing platform TikTok over concerns that the Chinese-owned social media app could be doubling as a surveillance tool for its communist government.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said this week that the idea of banning TikTok and other Chinese apps is under serious consideration. It was the latest sign that the Trump administration is growing more aggressive in its crackdown on Chinese technology companies.
In an interview with Fox News on Monday night, Mr. Pompeo said the administration is “certainly looking at” outlawing the short-form video app as part of a larger campaign targeting China.
TikTok’s parent company is the China-based ByteDance, though company officials have insisted that their app is in no way beholden to the government in Beijing and does not share user information with government authorities.
But U. S. officials seem to suspect otherwise. Mr. Pompeo cast TikTok alongside Chinese technology giants Huawei and ZTE in warning that Americans’ data from the app could easily fall into the hands of Communist Party leaders.
“We are taking this very seriously, and we are certainly looking at it,” Mr. Pompeo told Fox News’ Laura Ingraham.
