A group of top Republican US senators has stepped up pressure on the Chinese TikTok app, demanding that the President Donald Trump's administration assess the threat that the popular Chinese-owned video sharing app might interfere with the US election.
In a letter dated Tuesday, Marco Rubio, Tom Cotton and other lawmakers cited the alleged censorship by Tik Tok of sensitive content, including a video clip criticizing China’s treatment of Uighur minorities, as well as alleged attempts by Beijing to manipulate political discussions on social media applications.
"We are very concerned that (the Communist Party of China) can use its control of Tik Tok to distort or manipulate political talks to sow discord between Americans and achieve political results in favor of China".
A spokesman for the company said that Tik Tok already has a strict policy against misinformation, stressing, "We do not accept political ads," adding that content and moderation policies are led by a California-based team and are not "influenced by any foreign government."
The FBI and the Department of Homeland Security did not respond to requests for comment to Reuters, while a National Intelligence official confirmed receipt of the letter and said, "We will respond accordingly."
Lawmakers asked officials to say whether Beijing can inflate certain political views and conduct influence operations through popular application, which is owned by ByteDance Technology.
"If there is evidence that China interfered in the elections through Tik Tok, will Byte Dance be subject to sanctions?" The legislators asked, according to an executive order on foreign electoral influence.
And this month, White House chief of staff Mark Meadows said work was imminent to address the national security risks posed by Tik Tok.