The popular social network TikTok, which was already widely criticized by Democrats and Republicans, began the year under strong pressure in the United States after the approval of a law that prohibits its use on the devices of public officials.
Source: AFP
The text, ratified last week by the President Joe Bidenalso vetoes his use in the House of Representatives and the Senate.
The Republican control of Congresswho have a majority in the lower house, threatens to further complicate the platform situation to share videos.
conservative congressmen accuse TikTokowned by the Chinese giant ByteDance, of being a spy or propaganda tool at the service of Beijing.
TikTok is the “digital fentanyl”said Republican Congressman Mike Gallagher, one of the leading anti-China voices in Congress, to the compare it to the drug that has caused thousands of deaths overdose in the United States.
“It is highly addictive and destructive and we are seeing worrying data about the devastating impact of the constant use of social networksespecially young American men and women,” he told NBC News.
“We have to wonder if we want the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) control what is about to become America’s most powerful media group“he added.
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A TikTok spokespersonquoted in US media, formally denied these accusations and assured that the CCP “has no control, direct or indirect, over ByteDance or TikTok.”
The new federal law was approved after dozens of similar bans at the state or local level.
To recover the possibility of being used on all US smartphones, you may TikTok USA needs to separate from ByteDance.
That was what former president Donald Trump wantedwho ordered during his tenure that TikTok’s activities in the United States were sold to the American groups Oracle and Walmart.
his successor, Joe Biden, took a less drastic stance after taking office.
But relations with TikTok became significantly complicated last month when ByteDance had to admit that employees improperly accessed user data to track journalists and identify the source of leaks to the media.
ATTEMPTED AGREEMENT
TikTok has been trying for months find a long-term partnership with the United States government through the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS).
Sources close to the subject revealed that TikTok and the Biden administration were close to reaching an agreement that would have established strict security measures for US user data.
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“The solution that CFIUS is aiming for is a comprehensive set of measures with various levels of government and independent control (…) This goes far beyond what any similar company does today,” he told AFP. Brooke Oberwetter, spokesperson for TikTok.
But the negotiations are stalled, especially since FBI Director Christopher Wrayhas said that continues to consider TikTok a threat to national security from United States.
Wray warned last month that Beijing has the ability to control the algorithm of the applicationwhich makes that American users are vulnerable to a government “who does not share our values and who has a mission that is in total contradiction in the best interests of the United States.”
TikTok categorically denies that the Chinese government exercise such influence.
