Photo: Collected
Former US President Donald Trump on Monday (11 March) said he believes TikTok represents a national security threat to the United States but does not want to ban the app because this would benefit Facebook (banned in Russia for extremism), which he called the "enemy of the people.”
“I do believe that,” Trump said during an interview with CNBC when asked whether TikTok is a national security threat.
He stressed the importance of protecting the privacy and data rights of the American people.
However, Trump said banning TikTok would give Facebook an advantage, a development he would consider dangerous.
“The thing I don’t like is that without TikTok, you can make Facebook bigger, and I consider Facebook to be an enemy of the people, along with a lot of the media,” he said.
Trump also pointed out that many young Americans use TikTok, and they would be disappointed if it were banned.
The US House Committee on Energy and Commerce on Thursday unanimously approved a bill that could potentially ban TikTok in the United States if its Chinese parent company ByteDance does not divest from the video app within six months.
In response, TikTok said the US government was trying to deprive 170 million Americans of their Constitutional right to free expression.
The bill is expected to be taken up on the House floor sometime this week.
Messenger/Mumu
