Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-WI) and Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL)—a bipartisan team—recently took to CNN to raise the alarm about the communist Chinese government-tied parent company behind the app. ByteDance.
In an interview on CNN’s The Lead with host Jake Tapper, Gallagher called for a bipartisan consensus on a national ban of the app if the company doesn’t sever its ties with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Gallagher’s and Krishnamoorthi’s concerns were echoed in a lawsuit filed against TikTok.
Gallagher’s Press Office tweeted that to sum up their reaction, “TikTok can exfiltrate your data, track your location, and censor the news you see.” To address these issues, legislators introduced the ANTI-SOCIAL CCP Act, a bill dually introduced in both the House and Senate. The bill, if passed, would effectively prohibit the TikTok app from operating in the U.S. if it doesn’t separate from ByteDance.
ByteDance dismissed the bill as politically motivated and claimed it wouldn’t address the alleged national security concerns. Gallagher, however, argued that they can’t allow TikTok to become the most dominant media platform in America due to the app’s ability to control the news and track its user’s every move.
“We need to remember that ByteDance is beholden to the Chinese Communist Party at the very highest levels,” Krishnamoorthi emphasized, bringing up the damning testimony of a TikTok whistleblower.
TikTok CEO Shou Chew testified before the House Energy and Commerce Committee about the data collected by the app. Gallagher warned that Chew may have lied to Congress, as the allegations of the whistleblower contradict Chew’s testimony.
The world is opening its eyes to the potential dangers of using a Chinese-owned app. With the Chinese Communist Party providing ByteDance with “supreme access” to user data, TikTok may be a potential risk to our security and privacy.
TikTok can exfiltrate your data, track your location, and censor the news you see.
Rep. Gallagher outlines why this is a threat and why we need to ban or force a sale of the app before it’s too late. pic.twitter.com/5IPxPAJKqE
— Rep. Gallagher Press Office (@RepGallagher) May 19, 2023
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just ban it already
& sue Big Tech defund
here is the problem. Even if it seems they broke away from CCP, how can you be sure unless you have a clear program to monitor what is going on.
China is a threat to humanity, and it is a cancer that needs to be rooted out.