WASHINGTON —President Trump will act as soon as Saturday to ban the Chinese-owned video app TikTok from operating in the U.S. — a significant escalation of his administration’s attacks on Chinese tech companies.
- The president delivered the news to reporters aboard Air Force One on Friday evening, hours after Bloomberg and The Wall Street Journal reported that the U.S. planned to direct China’s ByteDance to divest its ownership of the popular app.
- According to Trump, the use of emergency economic powers or an executive order could bar TikTok from operating in the U.S.
- “Well, I have that authority,” he said, making clear he plans to ban TikTok in the U.S. entirely rather than allow an American company to take over the app. The New York Times reported Friday that Microsoft was in talks to acquire TikTok.
- Why this matters: If confirmed, the move would deepen the rift in relations between the U.S. and China and potentially impact thousands of young Asian American and Pacific Islander content creators.
- In Washington: Congress, the Trump administration, and political campaigns have long been skeptical of TikTok and its parent company ByteDance due to their ties to Beijing, along with growing worries over foreign election influence, content moderation, and user data access.
- For example… Both the Democratic and Republican National Committees warned staffers against installing the app on personal devices earlier this year, and Sens. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Josh Hawley (R-MO) asked the Department of Justice to launch a probe into TikTok on Thursday.
- Context: The crackdown targeting ByteDance is the result of a year-long national security review by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, according to Reuters.
- Meanwhile: The U.S. has also been weighing action against the Chinese-owned social media app WeChat in retaliation against China over its handling of the coronavirus and the recent crackdown in Hong Kong. A potential ban on WeChat would immediately impact first-generation Chinese American business networks and deal a devastating blow to a vocal bloc of conservative activists, who have historically used the app to organize in battles against affirmative action.
- Last updated at 11p.m. EST on July 31, 2020.
