US President Donald Trump announced on Friday that the United States will ban the fast-growing social media app TikTok, as American authorities have concerns that the platform could be a tool for Chinese intelligence. Yup, you read that right.
Apparently, US officials and lawmakers have voiced fears that Beijing is using the wildly popular video platform for criminal intentions, but the company has denied any links to the Chinese government.
Talk about paranoia. And here I thought it was getting a ban cause of the cringy dance challenges and Trump edits.
Trump, who a week ago also whined about people not being nice to him on Twitter, spoke to reporters on Air Force One. “As far as TikTok is concerned, we’re banning them from the United States,” he said.
This could also mean the end of careers as TikTok stars have voiced out their disappointment over the news.
Dixie D’Amelio, who gained millions of viewers for her dancing videos, reacted to the news by posting a video of herself, visibly upset, as her song “Be Happy” played. Yeah, not so happy I think. Another user, Tony Lopez, urged his 21 million followers to follow him on other social media apps.
While those who made a career out of TikTok are upset over the news, some are glad the app was getting ban. One Twitter user shared that the app has white supremacist accounts, homophobic trolls, misogynistic pigs, and racist people on it. Another user tweeted, “TikTok is a place of sin, it has everything from immodesty and lust to gluttony and that it should be banned everywhere.”
In a blog post on Sunday, Microsoft CEO, Satya Nadella, spoke to Trump about buying the app owned by the Chinese start-up ByteDance and said that the company is committed to acquiring TikTok under a comprehensive security review and providing The US with appropriate economic benefits.
The US isn’t the first country to ban TikTok. India has already banned the app among other foreign apps after concerns of security and breach of privacy and similar act is expected to be followed by Japan as Japanese lawmakers are seeking to restrict TikTok and other apps developed by Chinese firms for similar reasons as well.
Are you an active TikTok user? Are you worried that Malaysia will be next to ban the app? Share with us your thoughts in the comments below.
