Donald Trump told reporters on Air Force One late Friday that he plans to ban the Chinese-owned social video platform TikTok via executive order, saying, “I have that authority.”
CNBC reports: “Trump's comments come as it was reported Friday that Microsoft has held talks to buy the TikTok video-sharing mobile app from Chinese owner ByteDance, one person close to the situation told CNBC. This person characterized the talks as having been underway for some time, rather than being brand new. Trump told reporters that he didn't support the reported spinoff deal involving Microsoft buying TikTok.”
TikTok has been scrutinized multiple times over privacy concerns.
Trump's move was criticized by the ACLU which called it a “danger to free expression and technologically impractical.”
Trump had told reporters earlier that “We're looking at TikTok, we may be banning TikTok. We may doing some other things, there are a couple of options but there are a lot of things happening.”
Vogue suggested that the real reason Trump wants to ban TikTok is because it made comic Sarah Cooper famous. Cooper uses the platform to post her hilarious lip-sync mockery of Trump speeches and statements:
“Earlier this month, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the U.S. was looking at banning TikTok as well as other Chinese social media apps, citing national security concerns. Pompeo added that the Trump administration was evaluating TikTok as it has with other Chinese state-backed tech companies like Huawei and ZTE, which he has previously described as ‘Trojan horses for Chinese intelligence.' But are national security concerns really behind Trump's sudden pronouncement? Or is there another reason why the president wants to ban TikTok? Social media had their own answer: It's all about Sarah Cooper.
And here's Trump's statement as interpreted by Sarah Cooper.
