TikTok general manager Vanessa Pappas said on Saturday that the Chinese app isn’t going anywhere, despite Donald Trump threatening to ban the video-sharing service by executive order.
“We’re not planning on going anywhere,” said Pappas in a video shared on TikTok. “When it comes to safety and security we’re building the safest app because it’s the right thing to do.”
Trump has vowed to sign an executive order, possibly as early as Saturday, banning the app, amid rumors of a Microsoft acquisition to allow it to continue operating in the U.S., Daily Mail reports.
U.S. officials consider TikTok a national security risk under its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, because of the data collection of users.
In the Microsoft deal, Microsoft would be in charge of protecting all U.S. user data, a source told Daily Mail, and ByteDance would divest completely.
TikTok has 80 million daily active users in the U.S., and according to Pappas video, the app employs about 15,000 people in the U.S., with plans to add about 10,000 more jobs.
