Trump says Biden would be ‘responsible’ for any TikTok ban - and that it’s to ‘help his friends over at Facebook become richer’
- Seeking youth vote, Donald Trump tries to blame US President Joe Biden for TikTok ban bill
- Trump attempted to ban the company and Chinese-owned WeChat when he was president
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump said on Monday that US President Joe Biden was “pushing” for a ban on TikTok and would be the one responsible if a ban were imposed, urging voters to take notice.
The bill now moves to the Senate. If it passes there, Biden has said he would sign it into law.
Chinese state media hit US over TikTok bill as owner ByteDance remains silent
TikTok, which says it has not and would not share US user data with the Chinese government, has argued that a ban would trample on free speech rights under the First Amendment of the US Constitution for the 170 million users of its app in the country.
The White House said on Monday: “We do not want to ban apps like TikTok. What we want – and what the legislation we support would do – is ensure that TikTok becomes owned by an American company so that our and our children’s sensitive personal data stays here instead of going to China and so that Americans’ understandings and views can’t be manipulated by algorithms potentially controlled by the PRC”.
Recently, Trump has argued that curbing TikTok would strengthen Meta Platforms’ Facebook, a platform he has criticised since his access was revoked after the January 6, 2021, US Capitol riot. His account was reinstated last year.
In February, Biden’s re-election campaign joined TikTok. Trump’s campaign has not.
Additional reporting by Bloomberg