US Senators Warn TikTok App Poses ‘National Security Risk’

The Chinese-owned video app TikTok poses a potential “national security risk,” Sens. Chuck Schumer and Tom Cotton wrote in a letter Wednesday to Director of National Intelligence Joseph Maguire.

The lawmakers urged US intelligence officials to investigate possible threats the app poses, its data collection practices, and if the Chinese government influences what content American users see on the app.

“Given these concerns, we ask that the Intelligence Community conduct an assessment of the national security risks posed by TikTok and other China-based content platforms operating in the U.S. and brief Congress on these findings,” Schumer and Cotton wrote in the letter, which was made public Thursday.

Schumer, a Democrat, and Cotton, a Republican, point out in the letter that TikTok has already been downloaded over 110 million times in the US.

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) also raised concern about TikTok earlier this month, asking Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin to have the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States investigate the app’s possible national security threats.

The Beijing-based company acknowledged the lawmakers’ concerns in a lengthy statement Thursday afternoon “to set the record straight.”

“At TikTok, we take these issues incredibly seriously as well,” the statement reads. “We are committed to transparency and accountability in how we support our TikTok users in the US and around the world.”

The statement continues, “We store all TikTok US user data in the United States, with backup redundancy in Singapore. Our data centers are located entirely outside of China, and none of our data is subject to Chinese law.”

As for concerns the Chinese government has a say in the app’s content, the company said, “TikTok does not remove content based on sensitivities related to China. We have never been asked by the Chinese government to remove any content and we would not do so if asked. Period.”

But Schumer’s not buying it, tweeting, “It’s owned by a Beijing-based tech company. It’s required to adhere to Chinese law. That means it can be compelled to cooperate with intelligence work controlled by China’s Communist Party.”

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