WASHINGTON — It’s been almost five months since a law went into effect banning the social media app TikTok in the United States, but it’s possible that President Trump could once again later this month extend the deadline for China-based ByteDance to divest the app’s US assets. Trump said during an interview in May that if a deal wasn’t made by a June 19th deadline that he would likely extend the deadline a third time.
North-central Iowa congresswoman Ashley Hinson says though it’s time to shut down the app. “It is 100% time to ban the app, and I think that I would call the administration to work with us on making sure we get an update on any potential deal. I know they had been working on trying to secure a buyer for TikTok so we could keep the app up and running in the United States and make sure it’s an American-run app, not a CCP propaganda and information gathering app, so we’ll be happy to actually follow up on that.”
Hinson says the White House has been more focused on trade deals than getting the TikTok situation resolved. “In the president’s comments about his conversation with President Xi, I know they had a very long and serious conversation, but I do think it’s time to ban the app or make sure we come up with a deal that protects Americans’ private information.”
Hinson for a number of years has served on the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party.
