US ‘looking at’ banning TikTok, other Chinese apps

WASHINGTON: Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has said the United States 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 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. I don’t want to get out in front of the president, but it’s something we are looking at.”

TikTok said late Monday it is stopping its popular video snippet-sharing app from working in Hong Kong due to “recent events”.

The move by TikTok, owned by Chinabased ByteDance, came as Facebook, Google and Twitter put a hold on requests by Hong Kong’s government or police force for information on users, following China’s imposition of a sweeping new security law.

TikTok has consistently denied sharing any user data with authorities in China, and was adamant it did not intend to begin to agree to such requests. The company expects to take several days to wind-down app operations in Hong Kong. – AFP