NEW YORK — 

On Monday, ex-president Donald Trump expressed his belief that TikTok still presents a threat to national security. However, he is against the idea of banning the widely-used app, as it would benefit its competitor, Facebook. Trump has consistently criticized Facebook for his defeat in the 2020 election.

During an interview on CNBC’s “Squawk Box,” Trump was questioned about his recent remarks that appeared to express disapproval of a congressional bill that aims to prohibit the use of TikTok and other ByteDance apps in the Apple and Google app stores, as well as U.S. web hosting services.

“In all honesty, there is a significant number of TikTok users who are passionate about the platform. Many children who use TikTok would be greatly impacted if it were to disappear,” stated Trump during his interview. “There are both positive and negative aspects of TikTok, but my concern is that its absence would only further strengthen Facebook, which I view as an adversary of the public, alongside other entities in the media.”

He stated that his intention is not to increase Facebook’s size, but rather he believes it has had detrimental effects on our country, particularly during election times.

Trump has continually expressed dissatisfaction with Facebook’s involvement in the 2020 election despite his ongoing refusal to acknowledge that he was defeated by President Joe Biden. This includes the donation of $400 million by the company’s founder, Mark Zuckerberg, and his spouse to two nonprofit groups that provided grants to assist state and local governments in conducting the election during the height of the COVID-19 crisis.

The contributions – which were completely lawful under campaign finance regulations – were utilized for expenses such as purchasing equipment for handling mail-in ballots and setting up drive-thru voting sites.

The 2024 presidential race has brought attention to TikTok, a popular video-sharing app. The platform boasts a user base of 170 million in the U.S., with a majority being young individuals. This demographic is a key target for both political parties in their efforts to secure votes for the upcoming general election in November. As younger voters move away from traditional media outlets such as cable TV, campaigns are finding it challenging to reach them.

The 2024 campaign for Biden recently signed up for TikTok, despite his concerns about the app’s impact on national security. He has previously prohibited its use on government devices and recently supported a bill that could result in a ban of the platform.

The U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee has approved a bill, with unanimous support, that requires China’s ByteDance to sell its ownership of TikTok or face a ban in the United States. Leading Republicans, such as House Speaker Mike Johnson, are in favor of the bill. Johnson has stated that it will be put to a vote in the House in the near future.

During his presidency, Trump made efforts to prohibit TikTok by issuing an executive order that deemed the spread of mobile applications from Chinese companies as a threat to the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States. However, the courts intervened and prevented the ban after TikTok filed a lawsuit, arguing that it would infringe upon the rights of free speech and due process.

When asked if he still thought the app was a threat to national security, Trump replied on Monday, “I do feel that way. We need to prioritize privacy and ensure the protection of American citizens’ privacy and data rights.”

However, the speaker continued, the issue of data privacy is not limited to just Facebook, but also affects many other companies. The speaker accused certain American companies of having non-American values, as they conduct business in China and may comply with any demands made by the Chinese government. This poses a threat to national security.

In 2022, Biden implemented a restriction on the utilization of TikTok by the federal government’s approximate 4 million workers on devices that are owned by its agencies. However, there are certain rare cases where law enforcement, national security, and security research activities may be exempt from this ban.

Recently, he also signed an executive order that permits the Department of Justice and other federal agencies to act in order to hinder the massive movement of personal data belonging to Americans to “countries of concern,” such as China, as stated by the White House.

The FBI and the Federal Communications Commission have both cautioned that China’s authoritarian government could access user data from TikTok’s owner, ByteDance, including browsing history, location, and biometric identifiers. Although TikTok denies sharing any data with China and claims they would not comply with such a request, the U.S. government has not presented any proof of this occurring.

Last week, Trump expressed his approval for the app on his social media platform, Truth Social. He stated, “Eliminating TikTok would only benefit Facebook and Mark Zuckerberg, potentially increasing their business. I do not want Facebook, who was involved in cheating during the previous election, to succeed. They are an enemy to the public.”

During an interview, Trump stated that he had not talked about the company with Jeff Yass, a TikTok investor and significant Republican contributor. Trump noted that the two had a brief meeting recently, but Yass did not bring up TikTok in their conversation.

According to Trump, he acknowledged having a meeting with Elon Musk, the billionaire in charge of Tesla and SpaceX. Musk has been showing support towards conservative ideologies. Trump expressed uncertainty about Musk’s endorsement for his campaign, recognizing their differing opinions on the controversial topic of electric vehicles, which Trump has strongly criticized.

Source: voanews.com