MANILA - The government sees no reason to ban Chinese video-sharing app TikTok in the Philippines, Malacañang said Tuesday following concerns on security issues.

The popular app is under scrutiny after United States President Donald Trump threatened to put it "out of the business" in the US on grounds that TikTok collects users' personal data that the Chinese government can supposedly access and use for intelligence collection and other purposes.

President Rodrigo Duterte's administration, however, sees no reason to ban the app, his spokesman Harry Roque--who also uses TikTok--said.

"Wala pong dahilan na nakikita para i-ban ang TikTok dito sa Pilipinas," Roque said in a Palace press briefing.

(We see no reason to ban TikTok here in the Philippines.)

"Sa mga nagsasabi na nanunupil si Presidente ng malayang pananalita, wala pong kahit anong website na bina-ban ang Presidente," he added.

(For those saying that the President suppresses free speech, he does not ban any website.)

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TikTok, an app that allows users to share creative videos, has been under scrutiny in several other countries such as Australia and Japan over security issues. It was recently banned in India.

The app has made its way to the Philippine government with officials such as Roque and Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles using it.

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-with a report from Agence France-Presse