Pompeo suggested the possible move during an interview with Laura Ingraham of Fox News, adding that “we are taking this very seriously.”
Ingraham asked Pompeo if the United States should consider banning Chinese social media apps, “especially TikTok.”
“Regarding Chinese applications on people’s cell phones, I can assure you that the United States will also have this, Laura,” he said. “I don’t want to go out in front of the president [Donald Trump], but it is something that we are seeing “.
Washington’s top diplomat added that people should only download the app “if they want their private information to be in the hands of the Chinese Communist Party.”
TikTok did not immediately respond to a request from CNN Business for comment.
TikTok has previously said that it operates separately from ByteDance. It says its data centers are located entirely outside of China, and that none of that data is subject to Chinese law. Data from US users is stored in the United States, with a backup in Singapore, according to TikTok. A spokesperson for the company told CNN Business in May that it believes national security concerns are “unfounded.”
TikTok has exploded in popularity in the United States and other Western countries, making it the first social media platform in China to gain significant traction with users outside of its home country. It was downloaded 315 million times in the first three months of this year, more quarterly downloads than any other app in history, according to analyst company Sensor Tower.
– This is a developing story and will be updated. Sherisse Pham contributed reporting.
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