US Senators Call on FTC To Investigate TikTok

JUN 29 2022·Updated SEP 20 2022

Story

Image credit: The Washington Post

The Facts

On Tues., Sens. Mark Warner (D-Va.) and Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) of the Senate Intelligence Committee called on the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to investigate TikTok's security practices.
wapo
This comes as FCC member Brendan Carr called on Apple and Google to remove the platform from their app stores last week, claiming that the app violates its safety policies.
wsj
Carr's concerns referenced a recent BuzzFeed report that claims ByteDance - TikTok's parent company - has frequently accessed US users' data.
wsj
While TikTok affirms that its workers outside the US can have access to user data as needed, it claims to be working on "additional safeguards on US data for improved peace of mind."
wsj
TikTok Chief Security Officer said "neither TikTok data, nor use, occurs in China," so Chinese authorities would "not have jurisdiction over the platform." But senators believe this is contradicted by the BuzzFeed report.
wapo
The committee reportedly also met with TikTok officials over reports that the app skewed content related to the war in Ukraine, with TikTok saying "corporate governance decisions are wholly firewalled from...ByteDance."
wapo

Sources Split

LEFT

CENTER

RIGHT

ESTAB
CRIT

CENTER

PRO
ESTAB

The Spin

Narrative A

TikTok is a wolf in sheep's clothing, and it's time to take action. It packages itself as entertainment when in reality it's used for surveillance by the Chinese government - this app is a national security threat and it's the US government's job to combat threats to Americans.

Christian Action

Narrative B

While concerns regarding the Chinese-owned app are understandable, banning it isn't the answer. There's no evidence that TikTok is any more of a threat than other Chinese-owned apps, and to ban it would only create America's own version of China's Great Firewall. The US needs to find a way for Chinese apps and American democracy to coexist.

The New York Times

Cynical narrative

This is part of a broader ploy by Meta to destroy one of its main competitors. Facebook's parent company has been planting dishonest op-eds and spreading rumors for some time, and this apparant smear campaign is a clear indication that the once-popular social media platform may be approaching stagnation.