Trump says he will ban TikTok app in the United States

[August 01, 2020]    WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald trump said on Friday that he was planning to sign an executive order as soon as Saturday banning Chinese-owned short-video app TikTok from the United States.

U.S. flags are seen near a TikTok logo in this illustration picture taken July 16, 2020. REUTERS/Florence Lo/Illustration

The move would be the culmination of U.S. national security concerns over the safety of the personal data that TikTok handles. It would represent a major blow for TikTok's owner, Beijing-based ByteDance, which became one of only a handful of truly global Chinese conglomerates thanks to the app's commercial success.

"As far as TikTok is concerned, we are banning them from the United States... I will sign the document tomorrow," Trump told reporters on Air Force One.

ByteDance and TikTok did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

(Reporting by Alexandra Alper in Washington, D.C.; Editing by William Mallard)

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