Two senior US senators asked the government to study the national security risks possibly posed by the TikTok Chinese-owned video application, saying it could leave US users vulnerable to Beijing spying.
With 500 million users worldwide, TikTok has grown in popularity over the past two years, offering a platform to produce and publish synchronized videos with music up to 60 seconds long.
In a letter to the interim Director of National Intelligence, Joseph Maguire, Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer and Republican Senator Tom Cotton suggested that TikTok owner ByteDance might be forced to share user information with Chinese intelligence.
It could also offer Beijing spies a backdoor in users' smartphones and computers, similar to accusations against Chinese telecom giant Huawei.
"With more than 110 million downloads in the US alone, TikTok is a potential counterintelligence threat that we cannot ignore," they wrote, urging the intelligence community to "conduct an assessment of national security risks" that Raises the application.
Chinese laws could force the company "to support and cooperate with the intelligence work controlled by the Chinese Communist Party," the senators said.
They noted that TikTok collects substantial personal data from users, which makes it a security risk.
In a statement posted on its website, TikTok sought to distance itself from China, saying "we are not influenced by any foreign government, including the Chinese government." The company's data centers are located outside of China and "none of our data is subject to Chinese law," he said.
The social media firm denied that it removed content "based on sensitivities related to China." "The Chinese government has never asked us to remove any content and we would not do so if asked." Point, "he said, adding that he had no intention of operating in China.
Senators also warned that TikTok could potentially be used to influence voters in next year's elections in the same way that Russians manipulated American social networks in the 2016 campaign.
"Questions have also been raised about the potential for censorship or manipulation of certain content," they said.
"According to reports, TikTok censures materials considered politically sensitive to the Chinese Communist Party, including content related to recent Hong Kong protests, as well as references to Tiananmen Square, Tibetan and Taiwanese independence, and treatment of Uyghurs."
They acknowledged that the application does not work in China, where ByteDance offers the similar but separate DouYin application, and that TikTok user data is stored within the United States. However, they said, "ByteDance must still comply with the laws of China."
Source: https://www.dawn.com/news/1512855/us-senators-call-for-security-probe-of-tiktok