Senators seek national security review of TikTok

Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) on Thursday asked U.S. intelligence officials to assess whether Chinese-owned social media platform TikTok poses “national security risks.”

“Security experts have voiced concerns that China’s vague patchwork of intelligence, national security, and cybersecurity laws compel Chinese companies to support and cooperate with intelligence work controlled by the Chinese Communist Party,” the lawmakers wrote in a letter to acting Director of National Intelligence Joseph Maguire.

“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.”

The senators also raised concerns that TikTok may be adhering to Chinese censorship rules to limit what users can see, including content related to pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong and the treatment of the minority Uighur population.

Schumer and Cotton also raised concerns that TikTok could be a “potential target of foreign influence campaigns like those carried out during the 2016 election on U.S.-based social media platforms.”

The company – which recently hired two former lawmakers to bolster its U.S. presence – denied in a blog post that it has ever removed content or shared data at China’s request.

“TikTok does not remove content based on sensitivities related to China,” TikTok wrote. “We have never been asked by the Chinese government to remove any content and we would not do so if asked. Period.”