Internet sector in US calcified; Twitter & FB 'not fun': Chinese stooge bats for TikTok

After US President Donald Trump on Friday (local time) said that his administration may ban Chinese video-sharing application TikTok, and amid Microsoft confirming that it is in race to acquire TikTok as well,  Editor of Chinese Communist Party (CCP) mouthpiece Global Times has reacted by saying that banning TikTok will make US' "internet duller"

'Banning TikTok will make US internet duller'

Hu Xijin, Editor-in-Chief of Global Times, on Sunday said that internet sector of United States has been "calcified". He claimed that to young people, Facebook, Twitter etc have been somewhat old-fashioned, inconvenient to use and t fun. "New internet giants and applications constantly emerge in China. Banning TikTok will make US internet duller," Chinese stooge said.

'We may be banning TikTok'

"We are looking at TikTok, we may be banning TikTok. We may be doing some or things, we have a couple of options... But we are looking at a lot of alternatives with respect to TikTok," US President said. This comes after President Donald Trump told reporters on Wednesday that US government is thinking about imposing a ban on TikTok. "We are looking at TikTok," Trump said when asked about possibly banning Chinese application. "We are thinking about making a decision."

READ | Reports: Trump to order China's ByteDance to sell TikTok

Meanwhile, amid worsening relations between Washington and Beijing, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Sunday said that Chinese software companies doing business in United States are feeding data directly to Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

READ | TikTok says its 't going anywhere' as Trump indicates towards banning Chinese app

"se Chinese software companies doing business in United States, wher it's TikTok or WeChat - re are countless more," Pompeo said on Fox News quoting White House trade adviser Peter Navarro "are feeding data directly to Chinese Communist Party, ir national security apparatus". 

READ | Why does Donald Trump want to ban TikTok? Concerns around short-video app explained

"It could be ir facial recognition pattern. It could be information about ir residence, ir phone numbers, ir friends, who y're connected to. Those are issues that President Trump has made clear we're going to take care of. se are true national security issues. y are true privacy issues for American people," he said.

US politicians have repeatedly criticised TikTok, owned by Beijing-based startup ByteDance, of being a threat to national security because of its ties to China.

READ | TikTok in advanced sts to be acquired by Microsoft after Trump considers banning app

(With ANI inputs)