United States 'looking' to ban TikTok

With respect to Chinese apps on peoples cell phones, I can assure you the US will get this one right too, he said, adding that he did not want to dive into specifics and potentially "get ahead" of any presidential announcement

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has said the US is "certainly looking" at banning Chinese social media apps, including TikTok, days after India blocked the popular video-sharing platform.

In an interview with Fox News' Laura Ingraham on Monday, Pompeo said he and President Donald Trump are taking the reports seriously after he was told by the host that India had already banned the app and Australia is considering doing so. "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," Pompeo said.

"With respect to Chinese apps on people's cell phones, I can assure you the US will get this one right too," he said, adding that he did not want to dive into specifics and potentially "get ahead" of any presidential announcement. "But, it is something we are looking at," he said, going on to warn Americans that they should be cautious in using TikTok, lest they want their private information "in the hands of the Chinese Communist Party." Pompeo's remarks came amid growing tensions in bilateral ties with Beijing.

TikTok says will stop ops in Hong Kong

TikTok said on Tuesday it will stop operations in Hong Kong in the wake of the new national security law. The app's planned departure from Hong Kong comes as Facebook, WhatsApp, Telegram, Google and Twitter balk at the possibility of providing user data to the authorities. The firms say they are assessing implications of the security law. Police have been given sweeping authority, allowing them to conduct searches without a warrant and intercepting communications.

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