President Donald Trump has said that the U.S. is considering banning Chinese social media app TikTok amid fears it could be used by China to spy on Americans.
US officials have raised concerns about the Chinese government stealing private and personal data via Americans’ cell phones via such smartphone applications.
Speaking to reporters in the South Lawn before departing the White House for a day trip to Texas, Trump said: ‘We’re looking at TikTok, we’re thinking about making a decision.’
Treasury Secretary, Steven Mnuchin also said the app is under review by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States. He also informed reporters he would have a recommendation for the president this week on how to handle the Chinese-based app.
This comes days Joe Biden’s presidential campaign banned staffers from using the Chinese video-sharing app, citing security and privacy concerns.
In a memo on Monday, Biden’s general counsel, Dana Remus, ordered staff members to delete TikTok from both their personal and work phones, and to ‘refrain from downloading and using TikTok,’ according to Bloomberg.
The memo also bans staff from trading individual stocks without approval from the campaign’s general counsel.
Few days ago, India banned 47 more Chinese apps just weeks after blocking popular video-sharing platform TikTok and 58 others over national security and privacy concerns.
