CNN digs into national security concerns about TikTok and the impact it has on young people's mental health. Follow updates and watch now.
Link Copied!Two polls released this week find more public support than opposition for a US government ban on the app — although younger Americans and frequent TikTok users are against such a ban.
Among Americans who’ve heard about TikTok, 56% consider its ties to China a national security risk, with 22% saying that TikTok’s parent company being based in China does not present such a risk and the remainder unsure.also released this week, a majority also favored banning TikTok in the US – 41% in support to 25% opposed, with about one-third not sure, although a 54% majority of daily TikTok users said they did not want to see the app banned.
TikTok CEO Shou Chew addressed reports that TikTok uses keylogging, a method by which an app or program monitors the keyboard entries of users. “We would characterize today’s testimony by TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew in the Beltway as a ‘disaster’ moment,” Dan Ives, an analyst at Wedbush, wrote in a note Thursday as the hearing was still underway.
A multi-agency government panel on Thursday vowed to clamp down on data security risks stemming from foreign-linked business activity, as TikTok’s CEO sought to stave off a nationwide ban during a three-hour-long congressional hearing. For more than two years, CFIUS and TikTok have been negotiating on a possible deal that might address US security concerns and allow the app to continue operating in the United States.
“I think a lot of risks that are pointed out are hypothetical and theoretical risks,” Chew said. “I have not seen any evidence. I am eagerly awaiting discussions where we can talk about evidence and then we can address the concerns that are being raised.”Antony Blinken: TikTok"should be ended one way or another and there are different ways of doing that"U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken during a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on March 22.
“Clearly, we, the administration and others are seized with the challenge that it poses and are taking action to address it,” he said.TikTok CEO highlights the app doesn't do political ads:"I don't think other platforms can say that"TikTok Chief Executive Shou Zi Chew testifying before a House Energy and Commerce Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, today.
However, when he cited reports saying that TikTok approved 90% of the false political ads targeted at young US voters that researchers tested on the platform, Chew said he would need to review the report given TikTok’s policy on election misinformation and political ads.Link Copied!A TikTok ban is far from a certainty despite bipartisan bluster at today’s hearing.
Asked whether TikTok has provided precise geolocation data to the Chinese government, or inferences drawn from that data, Chew appeared relieved.Rep.
Britain’s parliament has banned TikTok on all lawmakers’ official devices and the “wider parliamentary network,” citing concerns over cybersecurity. Scotland also followed suit prohibiting TikTok on official Scottish Government devices Thursday following discussions with the British government on the “potential tracking and privacy risks from certain social media apps,” Deputy First Minister John Swinney said in a statement.
Members on the panel have hammered away at TikTok’s ties to China and disregarded CEO Shou Chew’s on-record, under-oath claims that TikTok is not an arm of the Chinese government. They have also blasted TikTok for its data collection practices and its handling of dangerous or offensive content. “We must save our children from big tech companies like yours who continue to use and manipulate them for your own gain,” he concluded.From CNN's Morgan Rimmer
He added: “I think there’s a great deal of interest from Senate leadership. I think we need to show a broad bipartisan House effort as well.” “There are some folks who don’t want to hear about national security concerns, and clearly there’s a lot of folks who make money off of it as social influencers. I think the market will provide them another venue, another app,” said Warner.
TikTok’s effort to address Washington’s security concerns by walling off US user data from China was met with skepticism from lawmakers at the hearing on Thursday.
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