Would help Facebook

Trump now opposes TikTok ban after all

Former US President Donald Trump wanted to ban the popular video platform TikTok from the US because of its position on China. Now he has changed course - in an interview with the US broadcaster CNBC, the politician, who wants to become president again, spoke out against a TikTok ban. 

That would help Facebook. "Without TikTok, Facebook can get bigger, and I think Facebook is an enemy of the people," said Trump. "There are a lot of young people who will go crazy without TikTok. There's a lot of good and a lot of bad with TikTok," the 77-year-old continued. In the past, he had spoken out in favor of a ban on the Chinese platform and also threatened to sell it to American investors during his term as president. The US Congress is currently negotiating a ban on a bipartisan basis.

There are a lot of young people who would go crazy without TikTok.

Ex-US-Präsident Donald Trump

The current bill would give owner ByteDance about six months to relinquish control of the popular platform. Otherwise, TikTok could be banned from app stores in the US. The service claims to have around 170 million users in the US.

Biden in favor of ban
The company emphasizes that it does not see itself as a subsidiary of a Chinese company, but is already 60 percent owned by Western investors. It is based in the Cayman Islands in the Caribbean. However, ByteDance has a large head office in Beijing.

There are fears in the US and Europe that Chinese authorities could misuse the app to collect information about users. US President Joe Biden has declared his support for a TikTok ban should Congress initiate one.