Senate Democrats urge Apple, Google to Remove TikTok from App Stores

According to a letter sent to the CEOs of Apple and Google on Thursday, Sen. Michael Bennet, a Democrat from Colorado, urged both companies to immediately remove TikTok from their mobile app stores, citing widespread concerns that the Chinese government might gain access to information about Americans who use the app.

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During his hearing, Bennet, who is a member of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, said he felt it was important to highlight both the growing concern about the potential national security risks associated with TikTok, as well as the power Apple and Google have when it comes to deciding what kind of apps Americans can access.

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The CEOs of both companies were told by Bennett that TikTok was different from other social media platforms due to the fact that it had its parent company based in China, ByteDance, which by Chinese law is required to share internal data with the government to be able to support intelligence operations.

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In his article, Bennet wrote, “Beijing's requirement poses the obvious threat of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) weaponizing TikTok against the United States, specifically, requiring ByteDance to surrender the sensitive data of Americans or manipulate the content Americans receive to advance China's interests.” According to this article, TikTok, in its present form, poses an unacceptable threat to the national security of the United States due to these obvious risks.

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There have been numerous attempts made by TikTok to reassure apprehensive American lawmakers and officials that it does not store data of U.S. users in China. Furthermore, the company is in the process of negotiating with the U.S. government in order to mitigate potential national security risks while still operating here in the country.

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However, many lawmakers are still unconvinced, including Congress, which passed a bill at the end of last year banning TikTok from being used on government devices. It has also been suggested that TikTok should be banned entirely from the U.S. Several states and universities have also proposed limits on the use of TikTok on a variety of degrees.

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Based on recordings of internal meetings, Bennet cites a BuzzFeed News article from last year that found China-based employees of TikTok's parent company repeatedly accessed information about U.S. users of TikTok. According to Bennett, TikTok's practice of "heating" video clips or boosting them in order to help them go viral, is also described in a recent Forbes article.

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This suggests that there is a very real possibility that the Chinese Communist Party may compel TikTok, through ByteDance, to use its influence in order to advance Chinese government interests, Bennett said. Using a tweak in its algorithm, for example, it could present Americans with content that undermines U.S. democratic institutions or mutes criticisms of CCP policies toward Hong Kong, Taiwan, or the Uighur population..”

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The TikTok spokesperson Brooke Oberwetter said in a statement that, "Unfortunately, Senator Bennet's letter relies almost exclusively on misleading reporting about TikTok, the data we collect, and the measures we take to protect your data," said a spokesperson for the company. In addition, this ignores the substantial investment we have made through Project Texas-a plan negotiated with our country's top national security experts-to provide additional assurances to our community about the security of their data as well as the integrity of TikTok's platform.

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In response to requests for comment, Apple and Google did not immediately respond.