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Trump Says He’s Considering a Ban on TikTok in the U.S.
- President seeks to retaliate against China over virus spread
- Justice, FTC are pursuing an inquiry, privacy advocate says
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President Donald Trump said his administration is considering banning the short video app TikTok in the U.S. as one possible way to retaliate against China over its handling of the coronavirus.
Trump’s comments on Tuesday came one day after Secretary of State Michael Pompeo said officials were looking at barring the app, whose parent company is China’s ByteDance Ltd. Asked to elaborate Wednesday, Pompeo declined to repeat the threat of a ban but said instead that the examination of TikTok was part of a broader effort to protect American citizens’ private data.