On Friday evening, President Donald Trump announced that he is planning on banning TikTok app in the United States. The announcement was made through an executive authority while flying home from Florida.
"We're banning them from the United States," Trump said.
The app is dedicated to allowing users to film and share videos of themselves while running music in the background. It is currently owned by the Chinese company ByteDance. Besides Trump and his administration, many other lawmakers think the app is a security threat.
According to a TikTok spokesperson: "These are the facts: 100 million Americans come to TikTok for entertainment and connection, especially during the pandemic. We've hired nearly 1,000 people to our U.S. team this year alone, and are proud to be hiring another 10,000 employees into great paying jobs across the US. Our $1 billion creator fund supports U.S. creators who are building livelihoods from our platform. TikTok U.S. user data is stored in the U.S., with strict controls on employee access. TikTok's biggest investors come from the U.S. We are committed to protecting our users' privacy and safety as we continue working to bring joy to families and meaningful careers to those who create on our platform."
Around 65 to 80 million TikTok users are from the United States.
As Trump made his announcement, the American Civil Liberties Union which is a New York City-based nonprofit advocacy organization, expressed its disagreement on banning the app, as it would be "a danger to free expression and technologically impractical."
The United States would not be the first major country to ban TikTok. India banned the app in late June.
