Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
Senators call for intelligence probe into Chinese-owned app TikTok
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-congress-tiktok/senators-call-for-intelligence-probe-into-chinese-owned-app-tiktok-idUSKBN1X32J3?il=0OCTOBER 24, 2019 / 2:58 PM
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - U.S. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Senator Tom Cotton on Wednesday asked intelligence officials to investigate whether the popular Chinese-owned app TikTok poses national security risks.
In a letter bit.ly/2BEFX3r to Joseph Macguire, acting director of national intelligence, the senators raised concerns about the video-sharing platform's collection of user data and whether China censors content seen by U.S. users. The letter also suggested TikTok could be targeted by foreign influence campaigns.
Concern is growing in the United States about security and censorship issues involving TikTok, owned by Beijing-based tech company ByteDance, and other China-owned content platforms. Senator Marco Rubio has asked U.S. authorities to review allegations that the Chinese government uses TikTok for political censorship.
“With over 110 million downloads in the U.S. alone, TikTok is a potential counterintelligence threat we cannot ignore,” wrote Schumer, the Senate’s senior Democrat, and Cotton, a Republican senator from Arkansas.
