Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has said the US is “looking at” banning Chinese social media apps, including TikTok, over allegations Beijing is using them to spy on users.
India has already barred the wildly popular TikTok app over national security and privacy concerns while other countries are reportedly mulling similar measures.
Asked on Monday by Fox News’s Laura Ingraham if the US should consider blocking the apps — “especially Tik Tok” — the country’s top diplomat said the Trump administration was “taking this very seriously; we are certainly looking at it.”
Pompeo said the US had been working for a “long time” on the “problems” of Chinese technology in infrastructure and was “making real progress.”
“With respect to Chinese apps on people’s cell phones, I can assure you the United States will get this one right too,” he said.
“I don’t want to get out in front of the president, but it’s something we are looking at.”
Source: Guardian Newspaper