Popular social media app TikTok has said it is "going anywhere" after President Donald Trump threatened to ban it from operating in the United States (US).
Responding to Trump's proposed ban, the Chinese app enunciated that it is here to stay and is in America 'for the long run'.
TikTok US General Manager Vanessa Pappas told the users that the company was working to ensure them "the safest app", in the wake of heightened concerns in the US over data security.
Also Read: US will ban Chinese app TikTok, says President Donald Trump
"we're not planning on going anywhere," Pappas expressed in a video shared on TikTok's official Twitter account on Saturday. She added that "millions of Americans who use TikTok every day bringing their creativity and joy into our daily lives."
Pappas went on to say that the app is "a home for creators and artists to express themselves, their ideas and connect with people across different backgrounds and we are so proud of all the various communities that call TikTok their home".
Trump said on Friday that he would ban the video sharing app in the US on security concerns that the service could be used by China to gather intelligence. Trump stated that he was considering signing an executive order in this regard as soon as Saturday.
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The move comes following the news of Microsoft Corp's exploratory talks with TikTok's parent company ByteDance. The US government has been probing potential national security risks owing to the Chinese company's control of the app.
US politicians have time and again been criticising TikTok, of being a threat to national security because of its ties to China.
ByteDance launched TikTok in 2017, then bought Musical.ly, a video service popular with teens in the US and Europe, and combined the two.
TikTok's fun, goofy videos and ease of use has made it immensely popular, and US tech giants like Facebook and Snapchat see it as a potential threat. It has said it has tens of millions of US users and hundreds of millions globally.
Also Read: Chinese app ban: TikTok says ready to store data locally, denies breach of user privacy