Senator urges Apple, Google to remove TikTok from app stores

[brooklynite]

Axios

Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) wrote to Google and Apple on Thursday, urging both companies to remove TikTok from their app stores.

Driving the news: In a letter addressed to Apple CEO Tim Cook and Google CEO Sundar Pichai, Bennet urges both leaders to boot TikTok immediately, calling the popular video-sharing app "an unacceptable threat to the national security of the United States."

Why it matters: Bennet's letter marks the first time a member of Congress has suggested TikTok, owned by Chinese company ByteDance, should not be available for download via the Google Play or Apple App store.

What they're saying: "No company subject to [Chinese Communist Party] dictates should have the power to accumulate such extensive data on the American people or curate content to nearly a third of our population," Bennet wrote in the letter.

[Hugh_Lebowski]

1. It's not a terrible argument (nt)

[atreides1]

2. They want to remove TikTok

Below is a short list of unacceptable threats to the national security:

Marjorie Taylor Green
Jim Jordan
Matt Gaetz
Lauren Bobert
Andy Biggs
Paul Gosar-Nazi Advocate and White Supremacist
Scott Perry

These people are more of a threat then an app.

[Sympthsical]

3. China limits how much their children can use TikTok per day

Let that sink in. They know it's not great for kids. But for American kids? Design the algorithm so they spend hours and hours on it.

I'm just not sure how it'd work, disappearing a service as popular as that one. I get the argument and even mostly support it - a foreign, adversarial government gathering U.S. citizen data and controlling what information and media American citizens will be exposed to.

The CCP isn't going to leave that power alone.

TikTok is pretty problematic. Just not sure how they'll work this one out.

And I don't think we should be limiting this to TikTok. Congress needs to go after Google, Facebook, and other tech behemoths and tackle data collection. It's a serious problem and plants the seeds for future authoritarian instruments against the people. (Remember period tracking apps?) This should've been done 10 years ago, but guess who donates tons of money to politics, journalists, and floats job offers to family and friends of politicians?

It ain't McDonald's.

Google isn't donating to political think tanks and publications because they just really, really love Jonah Goldberg.

[LuvLoogie]

4. I enjoy a lot of the content providers on tik tok

There are many large social justice communities interacting and sharing information. Artisans, craftsmen, artists. Foodies, gardeners, etc.

The good content can only spread more good. The hateful content and bigots get exposed and opposed.

[Mad_Machine76]

7. +1

[PortTack]

14. Me too! Adam Schiff posted his senate run announcement there. All social media has it's issues

Hateful bigots and bots. Remove TikTok then remove twitter and meta too!!

[keithbvadu2]

5. Do little Kyley Ritttenhouse and the republicans approve of this 'censorship'?

Do little Kyley Ritttenhouse and the republicans approve of this 'censorship'?

[Mad_Machine76]

6. I don't understand all this sturm and drang

over Tik-Tok. It's not like China is literally force-feeding us Communist China-sponsored content or something.

[Bootlace]

8. It isn't about the content

It's about the app collecting your information. There was a hearing where it was confirmed that the tiktok app records your keystrokes on other apps...like passwords and credit card info. I'm too old to fully understand how it all works but that is creepy if true. I don't do tiktok.

[Mad_Machine76]

9. Oh I see

But what's the national security angle? I mean, I get why it shouldn't be on government devices (stuff like that isn't even usually allowed anyway), but I don't understand why it's a national security issue otherwise.

[Bootlace]

10. I don't know

I'm not techie enough to fully understand.

[Polybius]

11. I'm glad that a Democrat is saying this

Even when Republicans were, I was all for the ban.

[TheProle]

13. same

[PortTack]

15. Why? It's no different than other social media sites. Lots of really good info there and good ppl

[Polybius]

16. It's great for entertainment, don't get me wrong

But I suspect that the spying is real.

[PortTack]

17. Oh I think you're right. But..the #1 person pushing and buying influence to shut TikTok down

Little mark zuckerburg!

[Lancero]

12. No company should be allowed to accumulate such extensive data on the American people.

If it was privacy concerns, we'd be taking our own companies to task too.

The lack of such action though shows that it's not a desire protect the privacy of Americans. That we're focusing on a Chinese company while excluding American owned companies who do the same exact thing is nothing more that blatant sinophobia.

Trump was called a racist - and rightly so! - for starting this charge. Why applaud these actions now?