Trump signs executive order banning transactions with TikTok parent company ByteDance after 45 days.
US President Donald Trump has signed executive order for banning transactions with TikTok parent company ByteDance after 45 days. This development has come amid technology giant's Microsoft ongoing talks with TikTok to purchase its America operations as chorus grows among lawmakers in the United States for banning the Chinese video making-sharing app over security concerns of users' data and privacy.
Trump's executive order further states that US must take aggressive action against the owners of TikTok to protect our national security. According to NDTV, Trump's executive order says, "The following actions shall be prohibited beginning 45 days after the date of this order... any transaction by any person, or with respect to any property, subject to the jurisdiction of the United States, with ByteDance Ltd."
In another statement hitting China, US President Trump on Thursday said, "China's entry into the World Trade Organisation which is probably the worst of all the deals, if you want to know the truth...They violated the rules like nobody had ever violated it before."
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 the US lawmakers.
In a communique to the Congress, Trump said the spread in the United States of mobile applications developed and owned by the companies in China continues to threaten the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the country.
"At this time, the order takes action to address one mobile application in particular, TikTok," he said.
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 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.
TikTok may also be used for disinformation campaigns that benefit the Chinese Communist Party, the president said.
"To deal with this threat, the order prohibits, beginning 45 days after the date of this order, to the extent permitted under applicable law, any transaction by any person, or with respect to any property, subject to the jurisdiction of the United States, with ByteDance Ltd.
