Americans Will Be Banned From Downloading National Security ‘Threat’ TikTok From Sunday
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Americans will be banned from downloading the popular Chinese app TikTok from Sunday.
According to a Friday press release from the US Department of Commerce, “Any provision of service to distribute or maintain the WeChat or TikTok mobile applications, constituent code, or application updates through an online mobile application store in the U.S.” will in a few days become prohibited.”
If a deal is not made between the United States and TikTok before November 12, merely using the app will also be forbidden.
Announcing the measures to “safeguard the national security of the United States,” the Department of Commerce said, “The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has demonstrated the means and motives to use these apps to threaten the national security, foreign policy, and the economy of the U.S.”
“Today’s announced prohibitions, when combined, protect users in the U.S. by eliminating access to these applications and significantly reducing their functionality,” it declared, adding, “While the threats posed by WeChat and TikTok are not identical, they are similar.”
“Each collects vast swaths of data from users, including network activity, location data, and browsing and search histories. Each is an active participant in China’s civil-military fusion and is subject to mandatory cooperation with the intelligence services of the CCP,” the Department explained.
In his own statement, United States Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross said, “Today’s actions prove once again that President Trump will do everything in his power to guarantee our national security and protect Americans from the threats of the Chinese Communist Party.”
“At the President’s direction, we have taken significant action to combat China’s malicious collection of American citizens’ personal data, while promoting our national values, democratic rules-based norms, and aggressive enforcement of U.S. laws and regulations,” he continued.
The news comes after President Donald Trump’s August Executive Order against TikTok, which bans American companies from dealing with TikTok parent company ByteDance.
“As far as TikTok is concerned we’re banning them from the United States,” Trump declared, though TikTok U.S. General Manager Vanessa Pappas responded, “We’re not planning on going anywhere.”
