Tiktok has come under fire from US lawmakers and the
administration over national security concerning data collection.
President Donald
Trump announced Thursday sweeping bans on U.S. transactions with China's
ByteDance, owner of video-sharing app TikTok, and Tencent, operator of the
WeChat app, starting in 45 days, in a major escalation of tensions with Beijing
that one analyst described as "rupture in the digital world".
The executive
orders come as the Trump administration said this week it was stepping up
efforts to purge "untrusted" Chinese apps from U.S. digital networks
and called the Chinese-owned short-video app TikTok and messenger app WeChat
"significant threats."
Tiktok, the hugely
popular video-sharing app, has come under fire from U.S. lawmakers and the
administration over national security concerning data collection, amid
intensified tension between Washington and Beijing.
Trump issued the
orders under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, a law that grants
the administration sweeping power to bar U.S. firms or citizens from trading or
conducting financial transactions with sanctioned parties.
U.S. Secretary of
State Mike Pompeo said Wednesday expanded efforts on a program it calls
"Clean Network" would focus on five areas and include steps to
prevent various Chinese apps, as well as Chinese telecoms companies, from
accessing sensitive information on American citizens and businesses.
The latest move
comes soon after the U.S. ordered China to vacate its consulate in Houston,
Texas followed by China's order requiring the U.S. to vacate its consulate in
the southwestern city of Chengdu.
No comments:
Post a Comment