- The FBI is concerned that the Chinese government could use TikTok to promote divisive narratives.
- Fears were voiced during a US Senate Intelligence Committee hearing on worldwide threats to US security.
Wray told a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing on
worldwide threats to US security that the Chinese government could also use
TikTok to control software on millions of devices and drive narratives to
divide Americans over Taiwan or other issues.
"Yes, and I would make the point on that last one, in
particular, that we're not sure that we would see many of the outward signs of
it happening if it was happening," Wray said of concerns China could feed
misinformation to users.
"This is a tool that is ultimately within the control
of the Chinese government - and it, to me, it screams out with national
security concerns," Wray said.
The White House backed legislation introduced on Tuesday by
a dozen senators to give President Joe Biden's administration new powers to ban
TikTok and other foreign-based technologies if they pose national security
threats. The endorsement boosted efforts by a number of lawmakers to ban the
popular app, which is owned by Chinese company ByteDance and used by more than
100 million Americans.
Other top U.S. intelligence officials including Director of
National Intelligence Avril Haines, CIA Director William Burns and National
Security Agency Director Paul Nakasone agreed at the hearing that TikTok posed
a threat to US national security.
Nakasone on Tuesday expressed concern during Senate
testimony about TikTok's data collection and potential to facilitate broad
influence operations.
0 comments:
Post a Comment