Washington (AFP)
President Donald Trump announced Friday that he would ban the United States from the social network TikTok, suspected by Washington of being able to be used by Chinese intelligence.
"As for TikTok, we are banning it in the United States," Trump told reporters aboard the Presidential Air Force One plane. He added that he would act on Saturday.
TikTok belongs to the Chinese group ByteDance. It has nearly a billion users worldwide and is very popular with a young audience.
TikTok was under investigation by CFIUS, the U.S. agency responsible for ensuring that foreign investments do not pose a risk to national security.
Steven Mnuchin, the US Secretary of the Treasury, said Wednesday that he would make a "recommendation" on TikTok to the White House this week.
TikTok has often had to defend itself from its ties to China, where ByteDance has a similar app, under a different name.
She has always denied sharing data with the Chinese authorities and assured that she does not intend to accept requests in this regard.
© 2020 AFP