Trump announces executive order to ban TikTok
President Donald Trump on Friday told reporters he will act as soon as Saturday to ban Chinese-owned video app TikTok from the United States, according to NBC News.
“As far as TikTok is concerned we’re banning them from the United States,” Trump said.
ABOARD AIR FORCE ONE (AP) — Trump says he’ll act as soon as Saturday to ban Chinese-owned video app TikTok from US on security fears.
— Jonathan Lemire (@JonLemire) August 1, 2020
According to NBC, Chinese company ByteDance launched TikTok in 2017. The app has grown more popular during the coronavirus pandemic, with 2 billion downloads in April, according to Sensor Tower. Competitors include Facebook and Snap.
ByteDance investors seeking to take over TikTok have valued it at $50 billion, Reuters reported earlier this week.
NEW: The President says he plans to sign something as soon as tomorrow to block @tiktok_us: “We’re banning them from the United States.” But he didn’t specify what mechanism he’ll use.
— Weijia Jiang (@weijia) August 1, 2020
Trump also dismissed the reported spinoff deal involving @Microsoft buying TikTok.
Microsoft declined to comment on the talks, which were first reported by Fox Business Network.
