As part of the broader scrutiny by the US Congress, a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee is calling on Apple and Google to remove TikTok from their app stores, the App Store and Google Play, due to national security.
Colorado Democratic Senator Michael Bennetsent a letter to the two tech giants on Thursday expressing his strong concerns that TikTok may pose an “unacceptable threat” to the national security of the United States. His concerns are consistent with those that have led the federal government and more than half of the states in the U.S. to ban TikTok from use on government devices and networks.
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In a letter to Apple CEO Tim Cook and Google CEO Sundar Pichai , Senator Bennet expressed growing concern that China could seek personal user information from TikTok or its parent company, ByteDance, through national security laws . The laws force organizations within the country to “ cooperate with state intelligence agencies ,” as well as allow the government access to operational resources. This is all the more concerning given that ByteDance’s founder is Chinese and has offices also located in China.
Bennet warned that China may try to control what American users see on the app, which could have implications for democracy and foreign policy.
“We should accept the very real possibility that [China] could force TikTok, through ByteDance, to use its influence to advance Chinese government interests,” Bennet wrote, “for example, by modifying its algorithm to present Americans with content that undermines U.S. democratic institutions.”
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TikTok says Mr. Bennet’s accusations and his proposal to remove TikTok from Google Play and the App Store are baseless. A spokesperson for the company reportedly said: “Unfortunately, Senator Bennet’s letter is based almost entirely on misleading statements about TikTok, the data we collect, and our data security controls.”
In March, TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chewwill appear before a House of Representatives committee to speak about the security of user.
Although no evidence has emerged to confirm the surveillance and manipulation that American officials fear, security professionals have warned that there is a possibility that this is happening.
TikTok has repeatedly denied allegations that it gives user to the Chinese government. It has increasingly moved to isolate its US operations from the rest of its operations, technologically and organizationally – to address national security concerns.
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In her statement, a TikTok spokesperson said that Bennet's letter "ignores the significant investment we have made through Project Texas – a plan negotiated with our nation's leading national security experts – to provide additional assurances to our community about the security of data and the integrity of the TikTok platform."
Despite its efforts, TikTok has been unable to convince U.S. officials that it is not cooperating with the Chinese government. In recent months, several U.S. lawmakers have proposed bills to ban TikTok from all U.S., including personal ones.
Some other US officials have also asked Apple and Google to voluntarily remove TikTok from their app stores.
Last year, Brendan Carr, a commissioner at the Federal Communications Commission, wrote a letter to companies calling on them to delete TikTok.
TikTok has become one of the most popular social media apps today due to its wide variety of content and user-friendly features. Its popularity has been boosted during the pandemic, but it has been facing problems with the US government since then, even since the time Donald Trump was President of the United States.
Source: edition.cnn.com
