Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., revealed on Newsmax on Thursday that TikTok was aggressively lobbying to prevent the impending ban of its application in the United States.
A year ago, "TikTok dropped $100 million in advertising and lobbying and stopped that effort ... if anything, since a year ago, this has become more dire," Warner said on "The Record With Greta Van Susteren."
"The fact that 352 House members agreed on a record vote 'yes' on Wednesday of this past week was significant, and it's a national security threat," he said.
Warner, who chairs the Senate Intelligence Committee, outlined the dual concerns regarding TikTok's potential threat to national security.
"One ByteDance, which is a Chinese company, at the end of the day, by Chinese law, has to turn over all of their materials to the Communist Party of China," he said. "So that means the enormous amount of data that is being collected on the 170 million Americans who use TikTok on a daily basis ... could ultimately all end up in in the property of the Chinese Communist Party."
He elaborated on the second aspect of the security risk, stating, "TikTok's geniuses ... kind of know what you like before you know ... Many young people get all their news from TikTok. The Communist Party of China could alter the algorithm ... The news you're going to get on TikTok is that Taiwan is part of China or [Russian President Vladimir] Putin should have Ukraine ... It is a national security risk."
Regarding potential solutions, Warner expressed support for transferring ownership of TikTok to a group of investors, citing former Trump administration Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin's involvement in forming such a group.
"A group today ought to buy it and get it out of these adversarial hands," he said.
He also highlighted the international concern over TikTok's security implications, noting that several countries, including Canada, the U.K., and Australia, have already taken action to restrict its use.
Responding to concerns about the timeline for addressing the issue, Warner emphasized the need for a thorough legal process to facilitate a transfer of ownership.
"This is a very valuable property, and I think the market will work. I think people will step up," he said.
When asked about China's negative response to the House vote, Warner pointed out Chinese Communist Party's restrictions on social media platforms like Facebook and Google within China.
He contrasted the domestic version of TikTok promoted by the Chinese government with the content available to users outside China. He said the Chinese version is "all about education and studying hard and being a good citizen, not the kind of stuff that the rest of the world gets off of that platform."
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Jim Thomas ✉
Jim Thomas is a writer based in Indiana. He holds a bachelor's degree in Political Science, a law degree from U.I.C. Law School, and has practiced law for more than 20 years.
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