President Trump told reporters Friday night that he plans to ban TikTok from U.S. executive action. Trump made headlines aboard Air Force One heading for Washington, D.C., from Florida.
“We’re forbidding America,” he said.
It is still known how the president would ban the Chinese-made social media corporation in the United States, or even if he had such authority, however, Trump said he can point to anything as soon as Saturday. The president called it “compensation” and rejected an announced agreement in which Microsoft would buy TikTok.
The social media app, popular with young users, has raised considerations about China’s ability to collect non-public data from Americans. The U.S. military has banned the use of TikTok on official aircraft.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said earlier this month that the United States “considers” banning TikTok and other Chinese social media apps, raising national security concerns. India has already banned the application.
The ACLU opposed the announcement on Twitter and called the ban a “danger to freedom of expression and technologically unworkable.”