Trump orders Chinese owner of TikTok to sell US assets
PTI, Aug 15, 2020, 12:10 PM IST
Washington DC: President Donald Trump on Friday gave the Chinese company ByteDance 90 days to divest itself of any assets used to support the popular TikTok app in the United States.
Trump’s executive order said there is “credible evidence that leads me to believe that ByteDance … might take action that threatens to impair the national security of the United States.”
Trump last week ordered sweeping but vague bans on dealings with the Chinese owners of TikTok and the messaging app WeChat, saying they are a threat to US national security, foreign policy and the economy.
It remains unclear what the TikTok orders mean for the app’s 100 million US users, many of them teenagers or young adults who use it to post and watch short-form videos.
Trump on Friday also ordered ByteDance to divest itself of “any data obtained or derived” from TikTok users in the U.S.
Microsoft is in talks to buy parts of TikTok.
White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany defended Trump’s earlier TikTok and WeChat orders Thursday, telling reporters he was exercising his emergency authority under a 1977 law enabling the president to regulate international commerce to address unusual threats.
“The administration is committed to protecting the American people from all cyber threats and these apps collect significant amounts of private data on users,” said McEnany, adding that the Chinese government can access and use such data.
TikTok said it spent nearly a year trying to engage in “good faith” with the US government to address these concerns.
“What we encountered instead was that the Administration paid no attention to facts, dictated terms of an agreement without going through standard legal processes, and tried to insert itself into negotiations between private businesses,” the company’s statement said.
Udayavani is now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel and stay updated with the latest news.
Top News
Related Articles More
Nepal’s ruling coalition party splits
Maldives urges Indians to ‘be a part’ of its tourism, says country’s economy ‘depends’ on it
Driver dies after crashing into White House perimeter gate, Secret Service says
Trudeau touts Canada as ‘rule-of-law country’ after arrest of three Indians in Nijjar murder case
Rahul Gandhi has no fire but Congress playing with fire by attempting Hindu-Muslim divide: Rajnath
MUST WATCH
Latest Additions
Van carrying gold jewels worth Rs 666 cr overturns in tragic incident
Tragic accident in Kunjathur claims three lives
LS polls: Over 41% voter turnout in Karnataka’s 14 constituencies as of 1 pm
Delhi HC imposes Rs 1 lakh costs on man for making Lord Hanuman co-litigant in plea
Bail plea hearing of H D Revanna adjourned