The head of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), Brendan Carr, told CBS News that there was undeniable proof to support a nationwide prohibition on TikTok and criticized the company for its inability to persuade lawmakers that the app did not pose a threat to Americans.
According to Fox News Digital, During last week’s House Energy and Commerce Committee hearing on security concerns regarding the app, TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew faced questioning from both Democrats and Republicans. Carr defended the bipartisan push for a national ban during an interview on “CBS Mornings” last week, citing reports where TikTok confessed to China using the app to obtain data from American users.
“Look, I think the evidence we have now is crystal clear. For years TikTok represented that very little data, if any, goes back to Beijing, and there was a blockbuster story over the summer that got internal communications that said, no, quote, ‘everything is seen in China,” he began.
He pointed out that TikTok had previously claimed that little to no data was sent back to Beijing, but internal communications revealed otherwise. Carr also mentioned a story about TikTok being utilized to covertly monitor the locations of specific Americans, which the company denied but later admitted to doing in internal emails. He added that during the recent midterm elections, CCP state media created TikTok accounts to target US politicians with divisive content.
“Look, I’ve testified before the same committee many times, sat in the same chair, and never seen anything like that. The day could not have gone any worse for TikTok,” Carr told CBS News.
Carr expressed his disappointment with the TikTok executive’s failure to convince lawmakers that there was no cause for concern. He described the hearing as a train wreck for TikTok, as Chew struggled to directly answer questions about its parent company, ByteDance’s potential spying on American citizens and whether Chinese government spying was occurring through the app.
