Americans are again becoming aware of the national security risks posed by the Chinese social media application TikTok. In an article published on Wednesday by Breitbart, journalist Alana Mastrangelo called for the outright ban of the software program in the U.S.
She described TikTok as a “thinly veiled” Chinese surveillance operation and noted that FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr has called the platform “China’s digital fentanyl.”
TikTok is owned by ByteDance, a corporation based in China and under the control of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The app is wildly popular among young people around the world and especially in America.
Correct me if I am wrong, but the only bipartisan issue in the country is that America should ban TikTok and yet it isn't happening.
Find ONE person in Congress or the Biden administration arguing TikTok should stay. I want names or I want some news explaining the holdup.
— Scott Adams (@ScottAdamsSays) November 21, 2022
President Donald Trump proposed that TikTok be banned years ago, warning of the dangers it presents to national security, young people, and domestic election security. Mastrangelo identified the same three issues as being even more pressing in 2022.
As a hostile nation, China is using TikTok as a mechanism to push American teenagers toward dangerous and even life-threatening trends.
The latest example was a challenge being circulated on the platform urging young people to cook chicken in NyQuil and eat the results. Two years ago TikTok was responsible for a teen challenge urging kids to take excessive doses of the allergy medication Benadryl to cause hallucinations. Hospitalizations and deaths resulted.
The CCP uses TikTok to threaten American national security. ByteDance is compelled by Chinese law to turn over the data collected by TikTok from U.S. citizens. The app can monitor the physical location of any user.
The broad data collection led Carr to his strongest criticism of the app. He said banning it is a “basic IQ test for the Biden administration.” He said the fact TikTok presents as a fun app for sharing funny videos is “just the sheep’s clothing.” Carr observed that the Chinese use the software to track American users’ “search and browsing history, potentially keystroke patterns, and biometrics, including faceprints and voiceprints.”
Mastrangelo concluded that the massive risks presented by TikTok are “completely avoidable” if U.S. lawmakers “stop enabling China and shut down the Communist regime’s favorite propaganda platform immediately.”
