House Republicans Say TikTok Made Misleading Claims In Briefings On Data Handling

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House Republicans said TikTok may have misled congressional staffers this week in a new letter to the short-form video app in a private briefing on the company's handling of US user data.

Tuesday's letter to TikTok CEO Zhou Ji-Chiu reflects the latest escalation by US lawmakers as they examine TikTok's potential impact on national security. And it predicts how Republicans with a majority in the 2022 midterm elections will likely turn to TikTok in the coming months.

In a bilateral briefing that discussed the company's privacy practices, TikTok officials said the app collects personal information only when users are actively using the app, and that employees in China do not have access to specific geographic data for US TikTok users. Letter from Rep. James Comer and Kathy McMorris Rogers, members of the House Oversight Committee and the Energy and Commerce Committee, respectively.

But Consumer Reports and Forbes Public Reports appear to contradict those claims, the letter continued.

"Both of these claims appear to be misleading, and at worst false," wrote Comer and McMorris Rogers.

TikTok did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Tuesday's letter asked TikTok to withhold various documents, communications and other documents, a preview of how lawmakers may investigate the company in the coming months.

He asked TikTok to produce "all drafts and iterations" of any potential national security agreements the company has with the US government. And it echoes half a dozen other questions GOP lawmakers sent to the company over the summer.

Lawmakers have asked TikTok to respond by December 6.

"Americans deserve answers about how they knowingly allowed China to access their data, and Republican E&C will demand those answers," said Sean Kelly, a spokesman for McMorris Rogers. "The immediate next step is for Congress to pass the US Privacy and Data Protection Act, which would require companies like TikTok to notify users if their personal information is stored or accessed in countries like China and could prevent that information from being shared. ".

Copies of the letter were also sent to the chairman of the Democratic Committee, but lawmakers Carolyn Maloney and Frank Pallone did not sign the letter. Spokespeople for Maloney and Pallone did not immediately return requests for comment.

US officials have issued a double warning about TikTok and its parent company, ByteDance, which critics say could compel Chinese authorities to hand over the data of US citizens or act as malicious influence acts.

Over the weekend, Sen. Mark Warner, Democrat of Virginia, told Fox News Sunday that he believes "TikTok is a big threat" because of potential data security risks and the potential for Chinese influence. ByteDance to control what US users see on Tic toc.

"It's a distribution model that's going to lose out to RT or Sputnik or some of the Russian propaganda models," Werner says.

Last week, FBI Director Christopher Wray hinted that China is even trying to use TikTok as a covert hacking tool, telling lawmakers that the FBI is concerned that TikTok is "technically compromised" by China and could "exploit the software for millions." in devices".

TikTok acknowledged that US users' data could be accessed by employees in China, but refused to stop the data flow, saying it was confident its talks with the US government would lead to an agreement that "satisfies all national security concerns".

Earlier this month, TikTok updated its privacy policy for European users, explaining that their personal data could be accessed by employees around the world, including in China.

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