U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says "certainly looking" at a ban on Chinese social media apps, specifically TikTok.
"We've worked on this issue for a long time," Pompeo said during a Fox News interview.
"I don't want to get out in front of the president, but it's something we're looking at," he adds.
Last Monday, the Indian government issued a notice banning 59 Chinese mobile applications from the Indian market on the grounds that they "affect national security".
These include TikTok, HELO, VIGO VEDIO from ByteDance, and WeChat, QQ, QQ Player, QQ Music, QQ Mail, QQ News from Tencent, as well as Xiaomi Video, UC Browser, Baidu Map, and Weibo.
In the Indian government's announcement, the action against mobile apps is highlighted as being based on "national security". The announcement argued that the banned apps did not comply with regulations regarding the collection of user data.
It said user data is stored on servers outside of India and could be used to mine and exploit data that is hostile to India's national security and defense.
