WASHINGTON, March 11 (Reuters) - U.S. presidential

candidate Donald Trump said on Monday that TikTok was a national

security threat but also said that a ban on the popular app

would hurt some kids and only strengthen Meta Platforms' ( META )

Facebook, which the Republican has harshly criticized.

Trump reiterated his concerns as lawmakers weigh a bill this

week that would give TikTok owner ByteDance about six months to

divest the popular short video app.

The U.S. House of Representatives is set to vote on

Wednesday on legislation that gives China's ByteDance a quick

deadline to divest the popular TikTok short video app used by

170 million Americans.

"I'm not looking to make Facebook double the size," Trump

told CNBC on Monday. "And if you if you ban TikTok, (then)

Facebook and others, but mostly Facebook, will be a big

beneficiary. And I think Facebook has been very dishonest."

Meta Platforms ( META ) shares were down 3.8% at $486.71 on Monday

afternoon. The company declined to comment.

Trump previously criticized the company now called Meta

Platforms ( META ) for revoking his access to Facebook and Instagram

after removing two of his posts during the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S.

Capitol riot. His accounts were reinstated in February 2023.

Trump also said a TikTok ban could impact young people.

"There are a lot of young kids on TikTok who will go crazy

without it," he said. "There's a lot of good and there's a lot

of bad with TikTok."

President Joe Biden said last week he would sign the bill

after a committee unanimously approved the measure.

TikTok, which says it has not and would not share U.S. user

data with the Chinese government, argues the House bill amounts

to a ban. It is unclear if China would approve any sale or if

TikTok could be divested in six months.

"This legislation has a predetermined outcome: a total ban

of TikTok in the United States," the company said on Friday.

"The government is attempting to strip 170 million Americans of

their Constitutional right to free expression."

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise said "we must ensure the

Chinese government cannot weaponize TikTok against American

users and our government through data collection and

propaganda."

The bill would give ByteDance 165 days to divest TikTok. If

it failed to do so, app stores operated by Apple ( AAPL ),

Alphabet's Google and others could not legally offer

TikTok or provide Web hosting services to ByteDance-controlled

applications.

In 2020, Trump sought to ban TikTok and Chinese-owned WeChat

but was blocked by the courts.

The app is popular and getting legislation approved by both

the House and Senate in an election year may be difficult. Last

month, Biden's re-election campaign joined TikTok.

Trump's campaign has not joined TikTok.