Is Tiktok a 'national security threat'? US experts suggest so
Washington DC (US), July 18: America’s national security experts made a compelling case against the popular social media application TikTok which is partly owned by the Chinese government and said that it poses a national security threat, The Hill reported.
According to Jianli Yang, a reporter for a US-based newspaper, the Federal Bureau of Investigation has warned that TikTok provides the Chinese government access to location, biometric identifiers, and browsing history. He went on to say that this information might be shared with the Chinese Communist Party. This revelation prompted a bipartisan group of lawmakers, led by US Senator Mark Warner, to introduce legislation recently granting the Department of Commerce authority over the popular social media app. According to The Hill, the Joe Biden-led White House promptly praised the bill and asked for its immediate passage.
Jianli Yang, PhD, is the founder and president of China's Citizen Power Initiatives, as well as the author of "For Us, The Living: A Journey to Shine the Light on Truth" and "It's Time for a Values-Based "Economic NATO."
Furthermore, many policy analysts believe the government should step up its efforts to counteract detrimental social media companies' data collection.
After all, TikTok is neither the first or last startup to face such a challenge. According to The Hill, many other apps, like WeChat, have equally alarming ties to the Chinese Communist Party and should be constantly monitored by authorities.
According to Jianli Yang of The Hill, Chinese-owned social media applications are not the only data-collecting issue that the American people are currently facing.
Modern cars, on the other hand, are becoming data-collection vacuums. Their cameras and computers track where you go, what stores you visit, what music you listen to, and how fast you drive.
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- ANI
