The chairman of the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee, a ranking Democrat, said he is concerned about President Joe Biden’s campaign’s decision to join TikTok.
On Sunday, Biden’s re-election campaign used the Super Bowl to launch a new TikTok account to reach younger voters ahead of November’s presidential election.
The launch of the campaign on TikTok is notable given that the app, owned by Chinese tech company ByteDance, is under review in the United States due to potential national security concerns. Some U.S. lawmakers have called for the app to be banned over concerns that the Chinese government could access user data and influence what people see on the app.
On Monday, Democratic Sen. Mark Warner said he was concerned about the national security implications.
“I think we still need to find a way to follow India, which banned TikTok,” Warner said. “I’m a little worried about the mixed messages.”
Many Republicans have also criticized the campaign’s decision to join TikTok.
White House Press Secretary John Kirby said nothing has changed regarding “national security concerns” regarding the use of TikTok on government devices. That policy continues today. “
Last year, the Biden administration ordered government agencies to remove TikTok from federally owned phones and devices.
TikTok insists it does not share U.S. user data with the Chinese government and has taken substantial steps to protect user privacy. The company did not respond to Reuters’ request for comment.
The Biden campaign said in a statement that it will “continue to meet voters where they are,” including on other social media apps such as Meta’s Instagram and Truth Social, founded by former President Donald Trump.
The campaign has “advanced security measures” in place for its devices and its presence on TikTok is separate from the app’s ongoing security review, campaign officials added.
In March 2023, the U.S. Treasury Department-led Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) demanded that TikTok’s Chinese owners sell their shares or face the app being banned, but the administration No action was taken.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Monday that a review by CFIUS is underway, filed by Warner and others to give the government new tools to combat threats posed by foreign-owned apps. He noted previous White House support for the bill.
Last month, TikTok told Congress that 170 million Americans now use the short video platform, up from 150 million the year before.
Reuters contributed to this report
Source: www.theguardian.com
