Former US President Donald Trump said on Monday that he was against the ban on TikTok in the United States, taking the opposite view from the current American head of state, ready to support a bill that threatens the social network .
“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 for the presidential election of November 5, during an interview with the CNBC channel.
This is a turnaround for Donald Trump, 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 itself and content creators, two federal judges from separate jurisdictions overturned the measure, in September and December 2020, decisions that the Trump government had not contested.
All 50 members of a House of Representatives committee voted Thursday in favor of a bill that would force, if adopted, TikTok’s parent company, 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.
“If they adopt it, I will sign it” declared American President Joe Biden on Friday, saying he was ready to promulgate this new law, supported by Democratic and Republican parliamentarians.
Parliamentarians are concerned about the links between TikTok and Chinese authorities, seeing the risk of 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 indicated that, if necessary, it would refuse.
Donald Trump said he was in favor of data protection but asserted, without proof, that other technology companies were ready to provide information about American users if Beijing asked, mentioning Facebook.
After this change of heart, several American media outlets mentioned the former head of state’s links with 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.