What is TikTok? Here are nine things to know about the short-video app

ORLANDO, Fla. — Last week, President Donald Trump signed an executive order to ban TikTok, a Chinese-owned short-video app, in 45 days if it is not sold by its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, according to a statement released by the office of White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany.

Here are nine things to know about the short-video app:

1. What is it?

TikTok is a popular video app with 100 million U.S. users and hundreds of millions globally.

According to the Associated Press, the app has a fun, goofy reputation, full of people lip-syncing, dancing and pulling pranks, and is exceptionally easy to use. Like other social-media companies, it has raised concerns about the privacy of its users and how it moderates content.

2. How long are TikTok videos?

TikTok videos can be up to 15 seconds long. However, users can connect several clips together for up to 60 seconds of total recording.

Read: Instagram takes aim at TikTok with ‘Reels’ tool

3. Why is President Donald Trump banning it?

The order alleges that TikTok “automatically captures vast swaths of information from its users, including Internet and other network activity information such as location data and browsing and search histories. This data collection threatens to allow the Chinese Communist Party access to Americans’ personal and proprietary information -- potentially allowing China to track the locations of Federal employees and contractors, build dossiers of personal information for blackmail, and conduct corporate espionage.”

4. Why are U.S. officials concerned with the app?

Officials are concerned that the app collects data about its users and moderates what’s posted. It uses people’s locations and tracks what people watch in order to know what kinds of videos they like and how to target ads to them.

5. Will Microsoft buy TikTok?

It could. The U.S. government is effectively forcing ByteDance, TikTok’s owner, to sell so it can salvage the app in the U.S.

TikTok is in talks with Microsoft. Microsoft has said it intends to complete discussions by Sept. 15.

Trump said he supported such an arrangement. He said “we’ll close down (TikTok) on September 15 unless Microsoft or somebody else is able to buy it.” Trump said such a deal would require that the U.S. government “gets a lot of money” because it’s enabling the deal to happen.

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6. Should you delete TikTok from your phone?

You don’t have to due to the Trump administration’s actions. However, you may want to take a closer look at the app, and deleting TikTok but leaving Snapchat, for instance, might not change things much.

Trump’s administration and some scholars worry that China can force its companies to help the government gather intelligence.

7. How would a TikTok ban work?

It’s not clear how a ban on the app would work. It could mean the app wouldn’t work on the Apple and Google app stores.

“Never in our history since we’ve had app stores on smartphones have I been able to find an example where an app was actually banned by the U.S. government,” Theresa Payton, the former White House Chief Information Officer and CEO of a cybersecurity consultancy said.

Read: Trump signs order to ban TikTok in 45 days, takes action against WeChat

8. What happens next?

Microsoft’s plan would be to own and operate TikTok in the U.S., Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. If other investors are involved in the deal it might complicate things if the service has different owners in different parts of the world.

Microsoft plans to complete the deal by Sept. 15, the Associated Press reported.

9. Who is the most popular creator on TikTok?

According to Business Insider, Charli D’Amelio is TikTok’s biggest star, with more than 70 million followers. She choreographs dances to viral songs.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Cox Media Group