Washington (CNN) President Donald Trump issued an executive order Friday evening directing ByteDance, the Chinese-owned parent company of TikTok, to divest interest in the app's US operations within the next 90 days. Trump explained in the order that he believes there is "credible evidence" that ByteDance "might take action that threatens to impair the national security of the United States" following the company's acquisition of the social media app Musical.ly. The step marks just the latest twist in the dramatic back and forth between the popular video app and the President after he declared last month that he would ban TikTok from operating in the US. Trump issued an executive order last week that would ban the app from operating in the US in 45 days if it is not sold. But Friday night's order specifically directs ByteDance to destroy all data obtained from US TikTok owners and inform the Committee on Foreign Investment in the US once it has done so.

Source: CNN August 15, 2020 02:15 UTC