Taking the opposite view from the current American head of state, Joe Biden, ready to support a proposed law that threatens the Chinese social network TikTok, Donald Trump said, Monday March 11, that he was unfavorable to its ban in the United States. United. “What displeases me is that without TikTok, you will make Facebook grow, which for me is an enemy of the people, just like other media,” declared the only candidate still in the running for the nomination Republican in the November 5 presidential election, during an interview with CNBC.
This is a turnaround for the former US president, who issued an executive order in August 2020 to ban TikTok in the United States, citing a threat to national security. Seized by the platform and content creators, two federal judges from separate jurisdictions then overturned the measure, in September and December 2020, decisions that the Trump government had not contested.
If the text is adopted, “I will sign it,” said Joe Biden
All fifty members of a committee of the House of Representatives voted Thursday in favor of a bill which would force, if adopted, the parent company of TikTok, ByteDance, to sell its subsidiary, under penalty of ban on the social network in the United States. The text should be put to a vote in the House this week, according to several American media.
Parliamentarians are concerned about the links between TikTok and Chinese authorities, seeing the risk of a massive transmission of data from American users to China. On several occasions, the group assured that it had not received any requests from the Chinese government in this regard and said that, if necessary, it would refuse.
“[If parliamentarians] adopt it, I will sign it,” Mr. Biden declared on Friday about the text, saying he was ready to promulgate this new law, supported by Democratic and Republican parliamentarians.
On Monday, Mr. Trump said he favored data protection, but claimed, without evidence, that other technology companies were willing to hand over information of American users if Beijing asked, mentioning Facebook.
After this change of heart, several American media mentioned the links of the former head of state with the financier Jeff Yass, a major donor to Republican candidates and whose investment company, Susquehanna International Group, has a significant stake in the capital. from TikTok.
According to the New York Post, Jeff Yass, who met Donald Trump in Florida a few days ago, would have threatened to no longer finance Republican candidates if the law concerning TikTok was adopted. Questioned by CNBC, Donald Trump denied having broached the subject with the financier.
