More lawmakers are calling for TikTok’s ban, asking Apple and Google to remove the app from their app stores.
Key Details
- Colorado Senator Michael Bennet wrote a letter to Google and Apple Thursday, encouraging the companies to ban TikTok from their app stores.
- Bennet’s request comes after months of debate about whether or not to ban TikTok and its parent company ByteDance from the U.S. due to its close ties to the Chinese government.
- In his letter to the tech giants, Bennet called the social-media app “an unacceptable threat to the national security of the United States.”
Why it’s news
While multiple U.S. lawmakers have suggested that TikTok be banned, Bennet is the first to request the tech giants make the app unavailable for downloads.
In his request to Google and Apple, Bennet referenced the security concerns surrounding TikTok, including the app’s ability to collect user data. Though many social-media apps collect data, TikTok represents a security concern because of employees’ connections to Chinese state media.
Backing up a bit
TikTok is under increasing pressure from U.S. lawmakers as more revelations point to the social-media platform being a national security risk. Multiple states have banned the app on government devices, and the federal government has also banned the app on its employees’ work devices.
TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew is expected to testify before the House Energy and Commerce Committee in March regarding the social-media company’s privacy policy, the app’s effect on children, and the company’s relationship with the Chinese Communist Party.
Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers announced that the TikTok CEO had been asked to appear before the committee to address lawmakers’ concerns with the social-media company. Rodgers claims that TikTok has knowingly allowed the Chinese Communist Party to access user data through the app.
“We’ve made our concerns clear with TikTok. It is now time to continue the committee’s efforts to hold Big Tech accountable by bringing TikTok before the committee to provide complete and honest answers for people,” Rogers says.
Chew is set to appear before the committee on March 23.
