Snap Inc. stock prices have increased by 5.94 percent on Tuesday after U.S. Secretary State Mike Pompeo said the country is looking to ban TikTok and other Chinese social media applications because of security concerns.

About 98 percent of Snap stock income comes from advertising. It operates the mobile social messaging platform Snapchat and is widely used by users under the age of 30.

Video sharing app TikTok has gained attention in the digital advertising market with big brands, Pompeo said in a report.

Pompeo noted that TikTok could be working with the Intelligence network controlled by the Chinese Communist country and this is something that the Trump's administration is seriously looking at.

Why Ban TikTok?

U.S. lawmakers are worried about how TikTok handles user data and its relationship with its parent company. Its parent company is the Beijing-based ByteDance and the Chinese government.

U.S. officials said TikTok could be pressured into giving the data or other information to the Chinese Communist Party.

But a spokesperson of TikTok has defended their company. He said TikTok is led by an American chief executive officer (CEO) with hundreds of employees and key officials across the country.

"We have no higher priority than promoting a safe and secure app experience for our users. We have never provided user data to the Chinese government, nor would we do so if asked," the firm's spokesperson said in a report.

India has officially banned the app on June 29 because of its safety issues. India said the app was a threat to the country's sovereignty and integrity.

TikTok Issues

TikTok is currently being watched by the U.S. mainly, largely because it is Chinese-owned at a time of increased tensions between the two countries, according to a report.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation is looking at TikTok if it failed to follow a 2019 agreement protecting children's privacy. There was also an issue with Apple iOS 14, where TikTok was said to secretly access the user's clipboards. 

Last July 2, TikTok chief information security officer Roland Cloutier said that the access was only gained from the clipboard for the benefit of an anti-spam feature. TikTok said the data was never sent off to a third party.

Cloutier noted that the platform had been working to reduce cases of users posting the same comments on different videos. He said this can mean that "the user had an agenda, such as promoting themselves to gain followers or trolling other users."

An anti-spam feature was released in TikTok's iOS app update on May 22.

Another issue was the one connected with Hong Kong's new national security laws. Under these laws, China could require TikTok to share information and its users might be prosecuted for dissent based on content shared on the platform.

This shows the risk that information on the platform can be monitored.

TikTok collects data from users through surveys, competitions, and challenges. These can be used to personalize the content and advertising. However, claims that TikTok is sharing information with the Chinese Communist Party may be hard to prove.

Meanwhile, Tiktok representatives in the U.S. and Australia maintained that the app never provided any information with the Chinese government, according to a report.

Check this out: