FBI Director Christopher Wray asserted that the TikTok app, owned by the Chinese company Bytedance, provides China with the ability to control the data of millions of users.
Wray, in an interview with NBC News, made an assessment of the current agenda in the US.
Amid discussions about banning TikTok in the US, Wray evaluated the application, stating, “This is a national security issue for us. The parent company of TikTok is under the control of the Chinese government. This gives the Chinese intelligence service the opportunity to collect data from millions of users and control algorithms.”
Wray argued that TikTok’s “control” capability serves the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), stating, “Thus, CCP narratives can be highlighted, and criticisms of the Chinese government can be made to seem insignificant. In this context, millions of users can become advocates for CCP propaganda.”
The US Senate has approved a bill that paves the way for banning TikTok.
Meanwhile, the US Senate had approved a bill that opens the door for either the sale or the ban of TikTok, with the condition that if not sold, it would be banned.
If the bill, which paves the way for banning TikTok citing “national security threats,” becomes law, the Chinese company ByteDance, which is the main shareholder, will be forced to sell the platform. Otherwise, TikTok is expected to be removed from internet application stores in the US for either five months or permanently.
If the bill becomes law, ByteDance, the main shareholder of TikTok, is likely to face pressure from conflicting demands from Washington and Beijing regarding the sale of the company.
Former US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin announced that he would form an investor group to purchase TikTok once the bill becomes law. Mnuchin, who advocates for keeping the app operational, stated, “It should be owned by American companies. It’s not possible for the Chinese to allow an American company to have such a thing in China.”
While the Chinese government’s stance on whether to allow ByteDance to sell TikTok to an American buyer remains uncertain, TikTok’s CEO Shou Zi Chew hinted that a sale is not an option.
