US President Donald Trump on Thursday ordered sweeping restrictions against Chinese-owned social media apps TikTok and WeChat, which could strangle their ability to operate in the United States.
Mr Trump's executive order, which takes effect in 45 days, bars anyone under US jurisdiction from doing business with TikTok or WeChat's owners.
It heaps pressure on ByteDance, TikTok's parent, to close negotiations to sell to Microsoft and further escalates the Trump administration's multi-front confrontation with Beijing.
Mr Trump's order cites a threat to "national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States" in taking aim at the companies.
"TikTok automatically captures vast swaths of information from its users, including Internet and other network activity information such as location data and browsing and search histories," the order contended.
Donald Trump has signed two executive orders banning transactions with TikTok and WeChat's parent companies in 45 days. Source: LightRocket
Data from TikTok could potentially be used by China to track the locations of federal employees and contractors, build dossiers on people for blackmail, and conduct corporate espionage, the order alleged.
Mobile app already banned from US government employees' phones
The TikTok mobile app has been downloaded some 175 million times in the US and more than a billion times around the world.
The US Senate voted Thursday to bar TikTok from being downloaded onto US government employees' telephones, intensifying US scrutiny of the popular Chinese-owned video app.
The bill passed by the Republican-controlled Senate now goes to the House of Representatives, led by Democrats.
Several US agencies already bar employees from downloading TikTok onto their phones.
Mr Trump and other officials have argued the app could be used for Chinese espionage, a claim repeatedly denied by TikTok, which does not operate within China.
Mr Trump, who has locked horns with China on a range of issues including trade and the coronavirus pandemic, has set a deadline of mid-September for TikTok to be acquired by a US firm or be banned in the United States.
that would include buying the global operations of the fast-growing video-sharing app, the Financial Times reported Thursday.
Donald Trump said earlier he would support the sale of TikTok's US operations to Microsoft under certain conditions. Source: STRMX
Microsoft declined to comment on the report, after previously disclosing it was considering a deal for TikTok operations in the US, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.
TikTok's kaleidoscopic feeds of short video clips feature everything from hair dye tutorials to dance routines and jokes about daily life.
The company on Thursday announced plans for its first data center for European users, to be set up in Ireland.
WeChat is a messaging, social media, and electronic payment platform owned by TenCent Holdings and is reported to have more than a billion users.
Mr Trump's order contended that WeChat captures user data that could then exploited by the Chinese government but provided no evidence that is happening.
"WeChat captures the personal and proprietary information of Chinese nationals visiting the United States," the order read.
"Thereby allowing the Chinese Communist Party a mechanism for keeping tabs on Chinese citizens who may be enjoying the benefits of a free society for the first time in their lives."
Shares in WeChat parent plunge 10 per cent
Shares in the parent of Chinese social media giant WeChat tanked in Hong Kong on Friday after Donald Trump signed an executive order banning Americans from doing business with the platform, citing national security concerns.
Tencent plunged as much as 10 percent in morning trade before paring losses and ending the session down 6.75 percent at HK$518.00, dragging the broader Hang Seng Index down more than two percent.
The sweeping restrictions on the firm, which come into effect in 45 days, also cover ByteDance, the owner of popular app TikTok.
