In fulfilment of an earlier threat to ban the TikTok app in the United States of America, President Donald Trump has signed an executive order banning the app from operating in the US.
The orders were issued under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, a law that grants the administration sweeping power to bar US firms or citizens from trading or conducting financial transactions with sanctioned parties.
It was gathered that the executive orders would affect both TikTok and WeChat in 45 days if they are not sold by their Chinese-owned parent companies.
In the executive order, Trump declared the TikTok app in US as a national emergency adding that the app automatically captures vast swaths of information from its users.
According to the US President, the information captured by the app include location data and browsing and search histories.
TikTok App In US
He stated that such data been captured by TitTok would give the Chinese Communist Party access to Americans’ personal and proprietary information hence allowing China to track the locations of Federal employees and contractors.
The executive order regarding TikTok prohibits after 45 days any transaction by any person, or with respect to any property, subject to the jurisdiction of the United States the Chinese company that owns the social media platform, ByteDance Ltd.
In the case of WeChat, the order states that it will ban financial transactions with Tencent, a Chinese based company.
Meanwhile, Trump said he would support the sale of TikTok’s US operations to Microsoft and set September 15 as the deadline for TikTok to find a US buyer.
However, Microsoft said its CEO, Satya Nadella has spoken to Trump expressing interest in purchasing TikTok in the United States.
The company has expressed commitment to acquiring TikTok subject to a complete security review and providing proper economic benefits to the United States.
