TikTok a “potential national security risk”: White House

Washington:

The White House insisted on Wednesday (local time) that the Chinese-owned app TikTok is a “potential national security risk”.

Responding to a question whether US President Joe Biden believes TikTok is a threat to national security, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said, “Well, we have said we have concerns. We have concerns about the app. And that’s why we’ve called on Congress to act and — including — and I mentioned earlier, just a moment ago — including China — how China is trying to protect Americans’ privacy is trying to collect as best it can — it — may present a national security risk”, at a press briefing.

This comes after the White House gave federal agencies 30 days on Monday to purge TikTok from all government-issued equipment.

“So, yes, we have concerns about that. And — and, look, we’re going to continue — again, to call on Congress. I just laid out the President’s unity agenda and what he wants to do And the actions that he wants to take from the executive branch, his authority. And so we’re going to continue to hammer that out,” he added.

Earlier, Congressional legislation passed in December banned the popular video-sharing app from federal government equipment and systems amid concerns TikTok’s parent company ByteDance could allow the Chinese Communist Party access to user data, New York The Post (NYP) reports.

Responding to President Biden having no legal mechanism to ban TikTok, the press secretary said, “I’m not going to go into the specifics of what legal power he has to do or not do that.” What I’m saying is — and we’ve been very clear that TikTok, you know, creates a problem and a problem. And so, we have concerns about it as it relates to Americans’ data — Americans collecting data and a potential national security risk. And we’ve been very, very clear on that.”

Meanwhile, the House Foreign Affairs Committee voted on Wednesday to approve a bill that would give President Joe Biden the authority to ban TikTok in the United States, despite objections from some lawmakers and advocates who say the measure Online speech may stifle freedom, ABC News reported.

The Deterring America’s Technological Adversaries Act – or the DATA Act – aims to create a legal framework that would allow the executive branch to ban TikTok and other apps owned by Chinese companies.

The bill, introduced Friday by committee chairman Mike McCaul, R-Texas, would allow President Biden or any future president to veto sanctions, including potential sanctions, before moving quickly through the committee process. against any company that “knowingly provides or may transfer” sensitive personal data” to any foreign person or company that is “… subject to the jurisdiction or direction of China.”

“Make no mistake, TikTok is a national security threat. This allows the CCP to manipulate and monitor its users, while it harvests Americans’ data to use for their malign activities. TikTok users Anyone given CCP permissions on their device and a backdoor to all their personal information. In other words, it’s a spy balloon in your phone,” the top Foreign Affairs Committee hearing on the bill on Tuesday said. But McCall said.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)