The US May Ban All Chinese Social Networks — Including TikTok
By Marko Vidrih on The Capital
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the US is “definitely considering” the possibility of introducing a ban on applications of Chinese social networks, including TikTok, CNN reports.
Earlier, American authorities expressed concern that Chinese companies were allegedly obliged to cooperate with the PRC intelligence services and transfer user data to them. TikTok is not available in China, but its parent company, ByteDance, is based in China. Only Hong Kong residents could use TikTok in a special administrative area. However, after the entry into force of the new Chinese security laws, the company stopped the application in Hong Kong.
Indian authorities already blocked TikTok and another 58 popular Chinese applications in the App Store and Google Play. The Ministry of Communications and Information Technology explained this decision by the fact that the applications pose a threat to the security of the country and its inhabitants.
Chinese holding ByteDance, which owns the TikTok application, plans to expand its product line by adding banking services. To do this, the company applied for a license for electronic banking, which is issued by the Monetary Authority of Singapore, the country’s central bank and the state financial regulation department of Singapore.
Author: Marko Vidrih
Featured image credit: Unsplash
