THE UNITED STATES could be on the verge of banning the social media app TikTok, according to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
The move would be part of a wider ban on all Chinese apps in the States.
Sec. Pompeo spoke to Fox News about the possibility of banning what is currently one of the world's most popular video platforms.
"It's something we're looking at," he said.
The news comes amid growing tensions is US-China relations, particularly with the recent controversies surrounding Chinese technology company Huawei and the current protests going on in Hong Kong surrounding China's supposed interference in their judicial system.
"We've worked on this issue for a long time. Whether it was the problem of having Huawei technology in your infrastructure. We've gone all over the world and we're making progress getting it out," Pompeo added.
"We declared ZTE a danger to American national security. We've done all of these things with respect to Chinese apps on American cellphones.
"I can assure you the US will get this one right too."
Despite being a Chinese-owned company, TikTok is not available in the country. The company, ByteDance, has tried to distance itself from its Chinese roots, but concerns have been raised over the past few months of user data being compromised.
Mr Pompeo went as far as to warn Americans that you should only download TikTok if "you want your private information in the hands of the Chinese Communist Party."
