After India, now the USA wants to ban TikTok

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says that the United States is "certainly looking at" banning Chinese social media apps, including TikTok. "I don't want to get out in front of President Donald Trump, but it's something we're looking at," Pompeo said to Fox News.

This comes at a time after the Indian government banned 59 Chinese apps out of which it also restricted the famous TikTok app from ByteDance. The Indian government said it was banning 59 apps developed by Chinese firms over concerns that these apps were engaging in activities that threatened “national security and defence of India, which ultimately impinges upon the sovereignty and integrity of India”.

This comes at a time following the India-China standoff at Galwan Valley which led to the death of 20 Indian soldiers following the Chinese aggression.

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The US decision to contemplate banning TikTok will further the US-China trade war which has negatively impacted the economies of both the United States and China. In the United States, it has led to higher prices for consumers and financial difficulties for farmers and manufacturers. In China, economic growth and growth of manufacturing activity have slowed to their lowest rates in decades.

TikTok is a Chinese video-sharing social networking service owned by ByteDance, a Beijing-based internet technology company founded in 2012 by Zhang Yiming. It is used to create short dance, lip-sync, comedy and talent videos. ByteDance first launched Douyin for the China market in September 2016.

With such geopolitical happenings around the world, this has created uncertainty for the TikTok app platform in the coming future with reports coming to a similar ban in Hong Kong.

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