US Considers TikTok Ban Along With Other Chinese Apps

The US is considering the ban of popular video app TikTok, along with other Chinese social media apps, says Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

During a discussion with Fox News, Pompeo commented on the rising turmoil between the US and Chinese governments. Additionally, technology firms, including TikTok, have been put on high alert throughout this endeavour. When asked about banning TikTok and other Chinese social media apps, Pompeo responded by saying: “We are taking this very seriously. We are certainly looking at it.”

Pompeo’s comments come shortly after a country-wide ban on TikTok happened in India. The service, which is lead by Beijing-based firm ByteDance has been put under a microscope as its popularity continues to rise. At the same time, TikTok has pulled itself out from Hong Kong as reforms for control follow a new national law. In a bid for good faith, the company has distanced itself from Beijing’s censorship.

Pompeo also commented on the banning of Huawei in the US.

“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 its 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.”

During the interview, Pompeo didn’t beat around the bush on the top of TikTok. Pompeo said: “With respect to Chinese apps on peoples’ cellphones, the United States will get this one right too.”

TikTok has also recently been caught accessing the clipboard information of iOS users. Through the iOS 14 beta, TikTok users discovered that with each keystroke, the app could copy the contents of the clipboard. An update to remove this has already been pushed out.