TikTok poses national security concerns, FBI director
The Chinese app can be used as a weapon against the US, he warns
FBI Director Christopher Wray told lawmakers on Tuesday that the agency has "national security concerns" about Chinese video sharing app TikTok's operations in the US.
Speaking at US House of Representatives Homeland Security Committee hearing, Wray said that the agency's main concern about the app is the possibility that it could be used by the Chinese government to control data collection on millions of American users.
Additionally, the Chinese government could "control the recommendation algorithm" to influence operations or "control software on millions of devices," which would allow Chinese officials to potentially under the security of personal devices.
In his written testimony, Wray described the foreign intelligence and economic threat from China the most significant long-term threat to US economic security.
He added that the FBI is concerned about the way the Chinese government exploits its laws as an aggressive weapon against American as well as Chinese firms.
Wray's comments build on those from other government officials and members of Congress who have voiced a deep scepticism about the ability of TikTok to shield US user information from an adversarial government.
TikTok's popularity has grown immensely in recent years after its parent firm, ByteDance, purchased and then absorbed Musical.ly, an app that allowed users to create and share lip-sync videos.
In 2020, former president Donald Trump made an attempt to prevent new users from downloading WeChat and TikTok as well as to ban other transactions that would have effectively blocked the use of the apps in the US, but he was unsuccessful in doing so after losing several legal battles.
Last year, President Joe Biden revoked the Trump directive, and asked the Treasury Department to investigate the safety risks associated with the app.
TikTok has maintained that it does not keep data on American users in China, where the law allows the government to compel businesses to hand over internal data.
"As Director Wray specified in his remarks, the FBI's input is being considered as part of our ongoing negotiations with the U.S. Government," a TikTok spokesperson told CNBC in a statement.
"While we can't comment on the specifics of those confidential discussions, we are confident that we are on a path to fully satisfy all reasonable US national security concerns."
According to the New York Times, the Biden administration and TikTok are very close to a deal that would enable the platform to continue operating in the US under stricter security controls.
In September, TikTok executive Vanessa Pappas told US Congress that TikTok was making progress toward a final deal with the US government to better secure US user data and fully address the national security interests of the country.
It is anticipated that data security requirements will be a part of any agreement reached with TikTok.
Last month, an article published in Forbes accused TikTok of planning to track the location of specific US individuals.
The report said that ByteDance was repurposing technology it uses to keep tabs on current former employees suspected of misconduct, in order to track certain American citizens.
TikTok responded by saying it uses location data to serve targeted ads and content ads in the same way other social media apps, to "comply with applicable laws, and detect and prevent fraud and inauthentic behaviour".
Last week, two influential Republican lawmakers wrote in a Washington Post opinion piece that TikTok ought to be completely outlawed in the US.
Representative Mike Gallagher of Wisconsin and Florida Senator Marco Rubio, vice-chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said that they planned to introduce legislation to outlaw TikTok and others that are essentially controlled by the Chinese Communist Party.