TikTok – you either love it or hate it.
The boredom that comes along with quarantine has once again caused TikTok’s popularity to skyrocket, with more users sharing their little bite-sized videos to the app.
But not everyone likes them.
If you’ve ever found yourself wishing TikTok could be banned and disappeared so you never have to see any of those cringy videos or hear overrated pop songs that were transformed into trending dances ever again, then you have something in common with the President of the United States.
Yep, Donald Trump wants to ban TikTok too, but for reasons other than annoying teenyboppers.
What Exactly Is TikTok?
Owned by ByteDance, a Beijing-based tech company, TikTok started off as a Chinese app, Douyin, before making its way out into the world.
However, many have brought up the privacy concerns regarding TikTok, with politicians believing that the app could steal data about America and other countries, leaving these potentially sensitive data in the hands of the Chinese government.
Speculations about the Chinese government using TikTok as a way to survey the entire world have filled the Internet, with cybersecurity analysts from Proton Mail warning people about TikTok’s dangerous data collection methods, citing latest discoveries as proof.
In an interview on 6th July, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has also fuelled the allegations that TikTok collects data for the Chinese government, responding that one should download the app “only if you want your private information in the hands of the Chinese Communist Party.”
Why Does Trump Want To Ban TikTok?
Countries such as India have taken the potential threat to security seriously, with them banning over 59 different Chinese apps, including TikTok, back in July.
Australia was also allegedly thinking of banning the app but has since held back, stating that caution should be exercised instead.
Trump might have been feeling FOMO, for the US Administration also announced a day after Pompeo’s allegations that the US is considering the ban of TikTok as well.
However, contrary to what you might think, the main reason for him wanting to ban TikTok isn’t just because of the potential security threat it poses to the US.
It’s because of the coronavirus.
Yep, you read that right.
Trump said that of the many ways they are looking to “get back” at the Chinese government for the coronavirus, banning TikTok is just one of it.
“Look, what happened with China with this virus, what they’ve done to this country and to the entire world, is disgraceful,” he commented.
Another Possible Reason
Some have also linked the sudden wish to ban TikTok to recent events, where TikTok users and K-Pop fans apparently tried to sabotage the attendance rate to Trump’s Tulsa, Oklahoma rally on 11th June.
When Trump tweeted for his followers to reserve tickets to the rally, many TikTok and Twitter users jumped to reserve tickets to take up spots, with no intention of going.
On the day itself, the turnout was, of course, much lower than expected.
Basically, the US President got clowned by teenagers on the Internet, and he’s not happy about it.
TikTok’s spokesperson has since responded, denying the allegations.
The spokesperson pointed out that the CEO is American, with many employees and key leaders working on the safety, security, and product of the app.
“We have never provided user data to the Chinese government, nor would we do so if asked,” TikTok said.
But Trump May Have Other Plans
The game isn’t over just yet, for American tech giant Microsoft is reportedly looking into buying TikTok as well.
This would mean that the Chinese influence over the American operations of the app would be minimal, which is what Microsoft plans to do, and promised to keep data from the app away from foreign systems.
Simply put, the US doesn’t want China to have such strong leverage over them or their data, as there are over 800 million monthly TikTok users.
In short, TikTok is now facing the choice of either being controlled or banned in the US.
“We may be banning TikTok. We may be doing some other things. There a couple of options, but a lot of things are happening. So we’ll see what happens,” Trump commented on 31st July.
The future of TikTok could very well change in the next few months, so treasure your hours left with trying to make funny videos on the app.
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