Chuck Schumer, in typical boomer fashion, is worried about what the kids are into these days. To be fair, he has his reasons.
This summer, the Senate Democratic leader called for the FBI and the Federal Trade Commission to look into FaceApp, a viral Russian-based program that some feared might be stealing users’ photos.
Now Schumer is worried about TikTok, the video-sharing app that made country-hip hop phenomenon Lil Nas X famous. It has generated countless memes, and it’s the reason your tween niece won’t stop trying the latest nonsensical challenge.
Thing is, it could also be a national security threat.
[Read: China-based app TikTok draws scrutiny from senators over national security]
“TikTok is owned by Beijing-based technology company ByteDance, which operates several other content platforms in China,” wrote Schumer and Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Arkansas, in a joint letter to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.
They continued, “TikTok’s terms of service and privacy policies describe how it collects data from its users and their devices, including user content and communications, IP address, location-related data, device identifiers, cookies, metadata, and other sensitive personal information.”
ByteDance must follow China’s laws, and the communist country has reportedly censored TikTok content deemed to be threatening, including any pro-Hong Kong videos.
TikTok is popular worldwide, and the app has been downloaded more than 110 million times in the United States. Asking the intelligence community to investigate whether TikTok could pose a risk, the senators concluded, “TikTok is a potential counterintelligence threat we cannot ignore.”
It may seem a little alarmist, but considering the way the NBA, Disney, and other American corporations have easily bent to China’s wishes, it’s worth questioning whether Chinese corporations will take advantage of the data Americans freely give them. In fact, they likely already are.
“Security experts have voiced concerns that China’s vague patchwork of intelligence, national security, and cybersecurity laws compel Chinese companies to support and cooperate with intelligence work controlled by the Chinese Communist Party,” the senators warn.
The app could also become a target in 2020. TikTok may be influenced by “foreign influence campaigns like those carried out during the 20I6 election on U.S.-based social media platforms,” the senators write.
Enjoy TikTok for the memes, but be wary; as we have learned countless times with Facebook and Twitter, social media platforms are not neutral.
American companies have their own problems with bias and censorship, but that could pale in comparison to the influence a foreign power could wield if we, blithely relinquishing our information, merely give it the opportunity.
