Trump says US looking into banning TikTok

President Donald Trump told reporters on Wednesday that the US government is thinking about imposing a ban on Chinese video-sharing application TikTok.

"We are looking at TikTok," Trump said when asked about possibly banning the Chinese application. "We are thinking about making a decision."

Earlier in the day, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin said that the US government was carrying out a national security review on TikTok and that his department would advise Trump what, if any, action he should take against it later this week.

The move came just before CEOs from tech giants Amazon, Google, Apple, and Facebook began testifying before the House judiciary committee over antitrust issues.

"We are going to be watching the hearings today very closely. There is no question that what the big tech compes are doing is very bad," Trump added before jumping on a helicopter for a trip to Texas.

Earlier in July, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the Trump administration was considering a ban on access to the TikTok application over privacy concerns. The social network claims user data is safe and not shared with Chinese authorities. Meanwhile, Beijing has called on Washington to stop using government mechsms to pressure Chinese compes. (Sputnik/)

( With inputs from ANI )