Authors
Shaminder started off his career as a freelance journalist for a consulting and research firm. He has been a Political Strategist and Media Manager. Before joining Newschecker, he worked with various reputed media agencies like Daily Post India, PTC News.
An image is doing the rounds across various social media platforms claiming that the United States of America has banned TikTok. It also claims that India should follow the same and ban the video app in the country. We found that the claim is also being shared in different languages on social media.
We also found that the image is being widely shared on Facebook, Twitter, and WhatsApp with identical claims. Several readers sent the image to Newschecker’s WhatsApp helpline number for verification.
Fact Check
As we began fact-checking the claim, we looked for media reports backing the claim, but we did not find any authentic information to corroborate the same. However, during our search, we found several media reports about the United States Army banning their employees from using TikTok due to security risks.
According to a report by Business Insider, the US army has banned all three branches of the military, the Marine Corps, the US Coast Guard, the Transportation Security Administration, and the Department of Homeland Security from using the app.
During our search, we found a report by Reuters, published on March 15, 2020. According to the report, two US Senators, Josh Hawley, and Rick Scott introduced a bill aimed at banning federal employees from using Chinese social media app TikTok on their government-issued phones amid growing national security concerns.
Last year on April 3, 2019 the bench of the Madras High Court had passed an order directing the government to prohibit the downloading of the TikTok app in the country, calling it dangerous for children, citing the spread of pornography through the app. However, the ban was lifted later on by the Madras High Court.
Earlier, Shashi Tharoor, the Congress Member of Parliament from Thiruvananthapuram, had also claimed that TikTok was illegally collecting data and sending it to China. Also, two parliamentarians Pinaki Mishra, the Biju Janata Dal MP from Puri, and Jayadev Galla of the Telugu Desam Party, representing the Guntur constituency, made a similar claim alleging that TikTok shares user data of Indians with China and helps spread fake news and malicious content in the country.
It is evident from our fact check that an image doing rounds on social media claiming that the United States of America has put a ban on TikTok is misleading.
Tools Used
- Google Reverse Image Search
- Google Search
- Media Reports
Result: Misleading Content
(If you would like us to fact check a claim, give feedback or lodge a complaint, WhatsApp us at 9999499044. You can also visit the Contact Us page and fill the form)
Authors
Shaminder started off his career as a freelance journalist for a consulting and research firm. He has been a Political Strategist and Media Manager. Before joining Newschecker, he worked with various reputed media agencies like Daily Post India, PTC News.
