(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) Republican lawmakers demanded House and Senate committees ban members of Congress from using the Chinese communist-tied TikTok app for government-related purposes, citing national security and privacy concerns.
Senators Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., and Thom Tillis, R-N.C., along with Rep. Dan Crenshaw, R-Texas, led the bicameral group in calling on their colleagues “to lead by example” by ceasing their use of the CCP-tied TikTok app. The lawmakers also called on Senate and House rules to be amended to prohibit all members of Congress from using the controversial app in a letter sent to committee leaders.
“It is troublesome that some members continue to disregard these clear warnings and are even encouraging their constituents to use TikTok to interface with their elected representatives – especially since some of these users are minors,” the members said in statements received by Headline USA.
“We feel this situation warrants further action to protect the privacy of both sensitive congressional information and the personal information of our constituents,” the lawmakers continued. “To that end, we urge you to enact a change to the Senate and House rules to ban members of Congress from using TikTok for official use.”
The letter comes weeks after TikTok CEO Shou Chew was grilled before the House Energy and Commerce Committee on the Chinese-tied app’s handling of U.S. consumers’ data. Sen. Blackburn, along with other GOP officials, has been vocal in her support for a complete ban of the TikTok app, citing dangers to children and its ties to the Chinese communist government. GOP lawmakers argue that China can access the mass data of U.S. citizens who use the TikTok app.
Ban Communist China's TikTok.
Ban Communist China from owning U.S. farmland.
Immediately.
— Sen. Marsha Blackburn (@MarshaBlackburn) March 24, 2023
A British data protection agency, for instance, slapped TikTok with a $15.9 million fine after the CCP-tied app misused the data of children.
“TikTok ‘did not do enough’ to check who was using their platform and take sufficient action to remove the underage children that were,” said British official John Edwards, who led the probe of TikTok. “The ICO investigation found that a concern was raised internally with some senior employees about children under 13 using the platform and not being removed. In the ICO’s view TikTok did not respond adequately. TikTok should have known better. TikTok should have done better.”
Thirty-one U.S. states, including the U.S. military, greenlighted banning TikTok from government-owned devices. Several foreign governments have also banned the app from government devices, including Australia, Canada, the European Parliament and the European Commission.
Even Democrat officials are pushing for tighter measures against TikTok, with Senator Mark Warner, D-Va., crediting former President Donald Trump for raising concerns over TikTok two years ago.
“As painful as it is for me to say, if Donald Trump was right and we could’ve taken action then, that’d have been a heck of a lot easier than trying to take action in November of 2022,” Warner said. “The sooner we bite the bullet, the better.”
President Joe Biden, after initially reversing a Trump-era order to ban TikTok, threatened TikTok with a complete ban if it failed to sever its financial ties with its parent company, ByteDance, which has members of the CPP on its committee.
It is unknown whether congressional leaders will move forward with an internal TikTok ban. But the such move could face pushback from leftist Democrats, some of which have argued that the app is useful to recruit voters.
Biden announced an initiative earlier this month to recruit social media influencers in an effort to increase the White House’s reach. The list of influencers included two TikTok stars, prompting critics to argue that Biden is contradicting his own administration’s concerns over TikTok.
Signers of the Blackburn-Tillis-Crenshaw letter also include Senator Rick Scott, R-Fla., and Representatives Dusty Johnson, R-S.D., Troy Balderson, R-Ohio, Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., Earl L. “Buddy” Carter, R-Ga., Randy Weber, R-Texas, Michael Guest, R-Miss., Greg Pence, R-Ind., Glenn Grothman, R-Wis., Randy Feenstra, R-Iowa, John Moolenaar, R-Mich., Max Miller, R-Ohio, Rick W. Allen, R-Ga., and Jack Bergman, R-Mich.
Read the full letter here.
