World News | Trump Reaffirms Commitment to Data Security, Says Decision on TikTok Soon
Get latest articles and stories on World at LatestLY. US President Donald Trump has asserted that data security of Americans is of the highest importance to him and a decision on the future of Chinese video sharing application TikTok will be taken soon.
Washington, Sep 19 (PTI) US President Donald Trump has asserted that data security of Americans is of the highest importance to him and a decision on the future of Chinese video sharing application TikTok will be taken soon.
Last month, Trump had signed an executive order to ban TikTok and WeChat by September 15 unless the ownership of the two Chinese companies changed to American.
Beginning September 20, the US will ban any provision of service to distribute or maintain WeChat or TikTok mobile applications, citing them as prejudicial to sovereignty, integrity and security of the country.
“We're looking at, most importantly, the security. And we're going to make a fairly fast decision. I don't think we have to delay it too much, but we have some great companies and some very great interests. It's a pretty incredible asset,” Trump told reporters at the White House on Friday.
Also Read | Donald Trump Expects COVID-19 Vaccine to Be Available for 'Every American' by April 2021.
Technology giants Microsoft, Oracle and Walmart are in talks with ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok, for a deal.
"We're going to take a look. They're going to be showing me everything in a little while, on TikTok. And we have some great companies who want to buy it, and we're looking at those companies,” Trump told reporters in response to a question.
“So, we have some great options, and maybe we can keep a lot of people happy but have the security that we need. We have to have the total security from China. Just know we're not going to do anything to jeopardise security,” he said.
“At the same time, it's an amazing company, very, very popular. So, if we can do a combination of both, I'd be very happy. It could go very quickly though. It could go very, very fast,” Trump said.
ByteDance, which owns TikTok, has denied allegations that it shares users' data with Beijing. Several US companies like Google and Apple have opposed the bans.
(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)