The United States is ready to block TikTok

The White House believes the app is dangerous because it exchanges personal data with China but the developers reject the charges

(Photo: Narinder Nanu / Afp / Getty Images) United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo he announced it a few days ago in an interview with Fox News: "We are thinking of banning TikTok in the United States because we believe that the app shares information with the Chinese government." Now the words seem to be turning into actions and the ban on the American government may come sooner than expected: within a few weeks. To say this is the head of staff of President Donald Trump, Mark Meadows: “There are a number of administration officials who are examining how much apps like TikTok and WeChat pose a risk to national security because they are managed by a hostile country that could exploit the data of American citizens. We haven't set a deadline, but we could act in the coming weeks. " In addition to the popular video app, Meadows also mentioned WeChat, the messaging service owned by the Chinese holding company Tencent.

TikTok's reaction

The ByteDance social network immediately defended itself by saying never having provided the Chinese government with data belonging to its users and not intending to do so, even if such a request were never to arrive. The concern of the Trump administration and some U.S. experts is based on a law in force in China that obliges technology companies to make their customers' information available at the request of the government.

The same rule is also contained in the package of laws on safety, which entered in force a short time ago in Hong Kong . Immediately after the approval of the law, many social boycotted the government of the city state, ceasing to offer their services. Among these, the same as TikTok , even if some commentators have pointed out that this abandonment may facilitate the repression of the movements pro-democracy because many of the events have been organised thanks to this app.

“TikTok is led by a managing director, an american, has hundreds of employees who help us to protect the security of our users,” said the company, referring to the recent change at the top. The current ceo is the former head of Disney, Kevin Meyer . In the press release also says that “this theme is our priority, and we work hard every day to enable our users to use the app in a secure manner. At the head of our security service, there is a person with decades of military experience in the United States. In addition, the data of our american users are stored in databases located in Virginia and Singapore, with a strict system of access control of employees. These are the facts”.