ST. LOUIS — Jiles Coleman loves TikTok, and he’s garnered quite the following.
The St. Louis man has more than 350,000 followers on the popular app. He’s known for his impersonation of Captain Jack Sparrow. One of his videos has more than 5 million views.
Coleman said he uses TikTok in a similar way to how President Donald Trump uses Twitter – to express himself.
That’s why he’s taking issue with the president’s latest executive order that could soon ban TikTok in the U.S.
Pres. Trump issued executive orders Thursday for TikTok and WeChat that take effect in 45 days. The orders’ wording is vague but leaves open the possibility that hosting the apps in the Apple and Google app stores could be covered by the ban. It also remains unclear if the president has the legal authority to actually ban the apps from the U.S.
If given the opportunity to address the decision to ban TikTok, this is what Coleman said he would tell the president.
“I would say, imagine if we said we’re going to ban Twitter. How would that make you feel? You use Twitter to express how you feel. Well, the generations under you use TikTok to express how we feel,” Coleman said.
The president's order against the China-based owners of the popular apps says it's over U.S. security concerns.
Coleman said he understands the privacy concerns, but he said any app does something similar, and he’s not worried about it.
