Trump cites India to ban TikTok, WeChat
Washington, Aug. 7: President Donald Trump, citing India’s recent ban on Chinese social media apps, has signed executive orders that would prevent TikTok and WeChat from operating in the US as they threatened America's national security and economy.
The ban comes into effect in 45 days, Trump said in two separate executive orders signed on Thursday. India was the first country to ban TikTok and WeChat, citing national security concerns. India has banned as many as 106 Chinese apps, a move welcomed by both the Trump administration and US lawmakers.
“The United States must take aggressive action against the owners of TikTok to protect our national security,” Trump said in his executive order. In his next executive order he said the country must take “aggressive action” against WeChat to protect America’s national security.
In a communique to the Congress, Trump said the spread in the United States of mobile applications developed and owned by companies in China continues to threaten the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the country.
Trump noted that these risks have led other countries, including Australia and India, to begin restricting or banning the use of TikTok and WeChat. TikTok which has up to 80 million active monthly users in America - has exploded in popularity in recent years, mostly with people under 20. TikTok, a video-sharing mobile application owned by the Chinese company
ByteDance Ltd, automatically captures vast swaths of information from its users, Trump said.
This data collection threatens to allow the ruling Chinese Communist Party access to Americans’ personal and proprietary information potentially allowing China to track the locations of federal employees and contractors, build dossiers of personal information for blackmail, and conduct corporate espionage, he alleged.
TikTok also reportedly censors content that the Chinese Communist Party deems politically sensitive, such as content concerning protests in Hong Kong and China’s treatment of Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities.
The US will end its reliance on China and other foreign nations for pharmaceuticals and medical supplies, President Donald Trump has said, asserting that Beijing would have to pay the price for the wound it has inflected on America and the world by spreading the deadly Coronavirus.
President Trump and leaders of several countries have accused China of not being transparent in reporting the deadly disase, leading to huge human casualties and economic crisis across the world.
China, however, has denied US’ accusation of covering up the extent of its Coronavirus outbreak and accused America of attempting to divert public attention by insinuating that the virus originated from a virology laboratory in Wuhan.
“What China did is a terrible thing. Whether it was incompetence or on purpose, it was a terrible thing that they did not only to the United States, but to the world. A terrible thing,” Trump told reporters at the White House on Thursday before flying to Ohio to visit a Whirlpool manufacturing plant.has over one billion users worldwide, including users in the United States.
THE BAN comes into effect in 45 days, Trump said in two separate executive orders signed on Thursday. India was the first country to ban TikTok and WeChat, citing national security concerns. US WILL end its reliance on China and other foreign nations for pharmaceuticals and medical supplies, President Donald Trump has said, asserting that Beijing would have to pay the price for the wound it has inflected on America and the world by spreading the deadly Coronavirus.