The Verge reports that Pompeo delivered this news during an interview with Fox News on Monday. When asked about a potential ban of the popular video-sharing platform TikTok, he stated that the federal government is “taking this very seriously. We are certainly looking at it.”
TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, is based in Beijing, and in the last few years some people have expressed concern that ByteDance may be obligated to share user data with the Chinese Communist Party if requested. TikTok released a statement Tuesday responding to Pompeo’s remarks stating that this is not the case.
“TikTok is led by an American CEO, with hundreds of employees and key leaders across safety, security, product, and public policy here in the U.S.,” the statement read. “We have no higher priority than promoting a safe and secure app experience for our users. We have never provided user data to the Chinese government, nor would we do so if asked.”
