TikTok users in the U.S. might have to bid the social media video-sharing app farewell.
According to a report from Billboard on Tuesday (July 7), Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says that the United States is considering banning Chinese social media apps including TikTok, a short-form video app, due to national security and safety concerns.
"With respect to Chinese apps on people's cell phones, I can assure you the United States will get this one right too," Pompeo explained on Monday (July 7) during an interview on Fox News' The Ingraham Angle. "I don't want to get out in front of the president, but it's something we're looking at."
He then added that only people who want their "private information in the hands of the Chinese Communist Party" should download TikTok.
Meanwhile, the video-sharing app announced yesterday evening that they are distancing themselves from Hong Kong following the city government's decision to pass a controversial security law. According to a report from CNN on June 30, the newly implemented law, which was drafted by lawmakers in Beijing, allows the country's capital to "investigate, prosecute and punish suspected criminals in Hong Kong."
The law also gives Beijing power to exercise authority over Hong Kong regarding "cases involving foreign forces, serious situations that the Hong Kong government cannot handle effectively, and when national security faces a major threat."
Reuters reported on Monday (July 6) that TikTok will be exiting the Hong Kong market in the coming days and will subsequently be removed from Apple and Google app stores for Hong Kong. A spokesperson for the app said, "In light of recent events, we've decided to stop operations of the TikTok app in Hong Kong."
TikTok recently announced the reevaluation of its operations after Hong Kong passed their National Security Law.
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