Trump issues order to ban US transactions with Tik Tok parent company

US President Donald Trump on Thursday issued an executive order banning any transactions with ByteDance Ltd- the parent company of TikTok. Trump stated that the US must take 'aggressive action' against the app in the 'interest of national security', beginning in 45 days.

The executive order prohibits 'any transaction by any person, or with respect to any property, subject to the jurisdiction of the United States, with ByteDance Ltd'. The order came at the time when earlier on Thursday, US Senate unanimously voted to approve a bill banning federal employees from using TikTok on government-issued devices, amid threats from the White House to ban the company.

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The US gives two options to ByteDance

Tik Tok has come under the scrutiny of the US lawmakers and the Trump administration over national security concerns as ByteDance, a Chinese company, owns the technology. The company faces a deadline of September 15 till which it has two options; first is either to sell its US operations to Microsoft or another US firm and second is to face an outright ban. According to news reports, ByteDance executives valued all of TikTok at more than $50bn.

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Trump in its order said, "TikTok, a video-sharing mobile application owned by the Chinese company ByteDance Ltd., automatically captures vast swaths of information from its users.  This data collection threatens to allow the Chinese Communist Party access to Americans’ personal and proprietary information -potentially allowing China to track the locations of Federal employees and contractors, build dossiers of personal information for blackmail, and conduct corporate espionage."

"TikTok may also be used for disinformation campaigns that benefit the Chinese Communist Party", he said.

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In June, the House of Representatives voted to ban federal employees from downloading the app on government-issued devices as part of a proposal offered by the Republican Ken Buck. The final version of the bill combining the House and Senate versions will require Donald Trump’s approval to become law.

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