Donald Trump Warns Of TikTok Risks, But Fears Ban Makes Facebook Stronger

In a recent statement, former President Donald Trump voiced his concerns on Monday, acknowledging his belief that the Chinese-owned social media platform TikTok poses a national security threat. However, Trump asserted that a ban on TikTok could inadvertently strengthen the position of Facebook, a platform he referred to as an "enemy of the people."

"I do believe that," Donald Trump, 77, told CNBC's "Squawk Box" in response to a question about him previously deeming TikTok a national security threat.

"I do believe it, and we very much have to go into privacy and make sure that we are protecting the American people's privacy and data rights," the presumptive Republican nominee added. "But, you know, we also have that problem with others; you have that problem with Facebook and lots of other companies too."

Donald Trump emphasised the difficulty of the decision to ban TikTok, noting that the absence of the widely-used app might inadvertently benefit Facebook. The former president's comments underscore the complex considerations surrounding national security and competition among major social media platforms.

"Frankly, there are a lot of people on TikTok who love it. There are a lot of young kids on TikTok who will go crazy without it," he said. "There are a lot of users; that is, you know a lot of good, and there's a lot of bad with TikTok, but the thing I don't like is that without TikTok, you can make Facebook bigger, and I consider Facebook to be an enemy of the people, along with a lot of the media.

"If you ban TikTok, Facebook, and others, but mostly Facebook, you will be a big beneficiary," he added, arguing Facebook has been "very bad for the country," especially in terms of elections.

Short, viral videos by TikTok, which is owned by Chinese internet giant ByteDance, took the world by storm, but concerns arose about user privacy. Some governments, including India, were worried that the Chinese ownership of the app (by ByteDance) could allow the Chinese government to access user data. Fearing this potential risk, India banned TikTok and over 100 other Chinese apps in June 2020 for national security reasons.