Pompeo floats TikTok ban

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the U.S. is “certainly” exploring a ban on Chinese social media apps such as TikTok, citing concerns the app has shared user data with the government in Beijing.

“I don’t want to get out in front of the president, but it’s something we’re looking at,” Pompeo told Fox News Monday.

Asked whether he recommended downloading TikTok, Pompeo responded: “Only if you want your private information in the hands of the Chinese Communist Party.”

Bipartisan U.S. lawmakers have previously expressed concerns about the app in connection with Chinese laws that require the nation’s firms to “to support and cooperate with intelligence work controlled by the Chinese Communist Party,” Reuters noted.

Pompeo’s comments come shortly after India banned TikTok, as well as 58 other Chinese apps, following a border skirmish between the two nations.

Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) asked then-acting Director of National Intelligence Joseph Maguire in an October letter to look into whether the app poses “national security risks.”

“Security experts have voiced concerns that China’s vague patchwork of intelligence, national security, and cybersecurity laws compel Chinese companies to support and cooperate with intelligence work controlled by the Chinese Communist Party,” they wrote.