Former President Donald Trump has voiced opposition to a potential ban on TikTok, a move currently under consideration in Congress. Trump has attributed this move to President Joe Biden, despite his own previous attempts to ban the app during his term.
Trump took to his Truth Social platform on Monday to accuse Biden of being responsible for the potential TikTok ban. He claimed that Biden was assisting Mark Zuckerberg-led Meta Platforms Inc.’s social media website Facebook in gaining more power and possibly meddling in elections to the detriment of Republicans, reported The Washington Post.
Two days prior, the House passed legislation as part of a broad foreign aid package. This legislation would require TikTok’s parent company, based in China, to sell the app within a year or face a national ban. Biden has endorsed this package and previously stated he would sign an earlier version of the TikTok legislation passed by the House.
Trump, in 2020, issued an executive order to ban TikTok if its parent company did not sell it within 45 days. This order was later blocked in court. Recently, however, Trump has reversed his stance, arguing that a TikTok ban would only strengthen Facebook, which he has termed “an enemy of the people”.
The White House has refuted allegations of working to shut down TikTok. “We do not want to ban apps like TikTok,” said White House spokesperson Robyn Patterson. The aim, according to Patterson, is to ensure that TikTok is owned by an American company to protect sensitive personal data from going to China.
