Trump raises concerns about US ban on TikTok

The campaign did not immediately comment on whether Trump has a position on the legislation

By Reuters
March 09, 2024
This representational image shows the Tik Tok logo with the shadow of the US flag.. — AFP/File
This representational image shows the Tik Tok logo with the shadow of the US flag.. — AFP/File

WASHINGTON: Presidential candidate Donald Trump raised concerns about banning TikTok ahead of a vote next week by the US House of Representatives that would give TikTok owner ByteDance about six months to divest the popular short video app.

The former Republican president seeking a return to the White House wrote late Thursday on social media site Truth Social “if you get rid of TikTok, Facebook... will double their business,” and added he does not want Facebook “doing better.”

The campaign did not immediately comment on whether Trump has a position on the legislation. Facebook parent Meta META.O declined to comment.

The Energy and Commerce Committee on Thursday approved legislation on a 50-0 vote to crackdown on TikTok, which has about 170 million US users.

The bill would give ByteDance 165 days to divest TikTok; if it did not, app stores operated by Apple AAPL.O, Google GOOGL.O and others could not legally offer TikTok or provide web hosting services to ByteDance-controlled applications.