Sen. Mark Warner: TikTok is a national security threat
Virginia Democrat Sen. Mark Warner explains why the social media app needs to account to China on 'Special Report.'
A Democratic lawmaker is warning Americans about the shocking power China has over TikTok, saying the social media app could become a propaganda machine for the communist country.
"TikTok and ByteDance that owns it, based on Chinese law, has to be first and foremost responsible to the Communist Party of China, which I believe is a national security threat," Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) told "Special Report" on Tuesday. "They collect data from Americans and they potentially can manipulate the videos that you see on TikTok, which can turn into an enormous propaganda machine for the Communist Party of China."
Skeptics can compare videos Chinese users see on TikTok, which focus on science, engineering and patriotism versus content users around the world are seeing, the lawmaker explained.
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A girl is holding a smartphone in her hands with the logo of the short video app TikTok on it. ((Photo by Jens Kalaene/picture alliance via Getty Images))
Warner told Fox News he put forward a bipartisan legislation focused on a rules-based, comprehensive model that would allow the secretary of commerce or the administration to take action against the social media giant, including banning the app.
"We need...a system in place that will take care of not just TikTok, but other future foreign based technologies coming out of countries like China that pose national security threats," he said.
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The senator revealed China has become "much more aggressive" in its quest and prohibited social media platforms like Facebook.
"My background...has been in the technology field, I see them as a threat in the technology field, not just in social media apps or in telecom, but in artificial intelligence, quantum computing... synthetic biology," Warner told Fox News.
"These are areas, I think, that all fall within the national security domain at this point and I am going to sleep a lot better at night if the United States and our friends are dominant in those technologies, not an authoritarian regime run by the Communist Party of China."
Warner said Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fl.) also believes TikTok is a national security threat and 12 senators — six Republicans and six Democrats — have supported his comprehensive approach against the social media app.