Without TikTok, Facebook could become bigger, and I consider Facebook an enemy of the people
– Trump said in an interview with CNBC TV on Monday. The portal has contacted Meta for comment, However, no response had been received at the time of publishing the news.
As a precursor to the issue, a bill was introduced last week that could ban TikTok in the United States if Chinese company ByteDance does not step down.
US officials have been concerned for years about data collection practices and privacy protections at Beijing-based ByteDance, but a bill introduced last year stalled, and it is unclear how much progress current efforts will make in this election year. The bill would give ByteDance more than five months to spin off TikTok. If this didn't happen, it would be illegal for app stores to offer the app.
According to TikTok spokesperson Alex Horik
The bill means a complete ban on TikTok, no matter how much its supporters try to hide it.
TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew, who testified before Congress in March last year, has repeatedly denied that the app has any ties to the Chinese Communist Party.
Cover image source: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images