President Trump announced on Air Force 1 that he will ban China’s TikTok from operating in the US as early as Saturday.
President Trump announces to reporters on Air Force One that he’s banning TikTok.
— Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) August 1, 2020
KFVS reported:
Reports by Bloomberg News and the Wall Street Journal citing anonymous sources said the administration could soon announce a decision ordering ByteDance to divest its ownership in TikTok.
There have been reports of U.S. tech giants and financial firms being interested in buying or investing in TikTok as the Trump administration sets its sights on the app. The New York Times and Fox Business, citing an unidentified source, reported Friday that Microsoft is in talks to buy TikTok. Microsoft declined to comment.
TikTok issued a statement Friday saying that, “While we do not comment on rumors or speculation, we are confident in the long-term success of TikTok.”
EARLIER: President Trump returns to Joint Base Andrews. He told reporters aboard Air Force One that he plans to ban TikTok from operating in the US https://t.co/p1JBGisCfB pic.twitter.com/9sOsdD0JNi
— The Hill (@thehill) August 1, 2020
The Sun reported on TikTok back in February.
TikTok’s owner is mysterious Chinese tech titan Zhang Yiming.
He runs a company called ByteDance, which has earned him an estimated fortune of $13billion (£9.96billion).
ByteDance launched a TikTok-style app called Douyin in China in September 2016.
Douyin is heavily censored by the Chinese government.
Even harmless cartoon character Peppa Pig is banned from being shared on Douyin – because it was being used “subversively”, Chinese censors said.
Zhang launched Douyin as TikTok for the rest of the world in 2017.