During a Senate hearing on Wednesday, FBI Director Christopher Wray raised alarms regarding TikTok, highlighting concerns that the Chinese government could leverage the app to access data from millions of American users. He described TikTok as a platform that significantly raises security issues.
Addressing the Senate Intelligence Committee’s inquiry into global threats to U.S. safety, Wray noted that the Chinese authorities could potentially manipulate the app to control software across millions of devices and propagate narratives aimed at causing division among Americans, particularly concerning Taiwan and other political matters.
Wray emphasized, “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,” referring to the possibility of China using the platform to disseminate misinformation.
“This is a tool that is ultimately within the control of the Chinese government – and it truly raises significant national security concerns,” he added.
The White House expressed support for new legislation introduced by a group of twelve senators, which aims to grant President Joe Biden’s administration enhanced powers to ban TikTok and other foreign technologies deemed security risks. This backing strengthens ongoing legislative efforts aimed at prohibiting the widely used app, owned by the Chinese firm ByteDance, which serves over 100 million Americans.
Other high-ranking U.S. intelligence officials, including Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines, CIA Director William Burns, and National Security Agency Director Paul Nakasone, echoed Wray’s concerns during the hearing, agreeing that TikTok could be a threat to national security.
Nakasone specifically raised worries during past Senate testimony about TikTok’s methods of data collection and its potential to facilitate extensive influence operations.
© Thomson Reuters 2023
