Lawmakers Urge ESPN To Drop TikTok Sponsorships Over National Security Concerns

Dillon BurroughsJanuary 10, 2023

Two House of Representatives have urged ESPN to stop TikTok sponsorship of halftime shows during recent college football games.

Reps. Mike Gallagher and Raja Krishnamoorthi, both Democrats from Illinois, wrote a Monday letter to ESPN CEO James Pitaro.

“The U.S. government considers TikTok a national security threat because it is owned by the Chinese company ByteDance, which is subject to the direction of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP),” The House members Write.

“We are concerned that despite these widely known issues with the app, ESPN has allowed TikTok to sponsor NCAA bowl game halftime shows,” They added.

In the letter, we asked for information about how ESPN reviews potential corporate sponsors to its programming.

Krishnamoorthi and Gallagher were asked if ESPN is available. “aware that TikTok is, through ByteDance, effectively controlled by the CCP and that the U.S. government has determined that it is a national security threat?”

The lawmakers ended their session by challenging ESPN to end its commercial relationship TikTok and ByteDance with Chinese companies.

TikTok, which has more than 100,000,000 users, is one of America’s most popular social media platforms. However, lawmakers are increasingly placing restrictions and bans on TikTok because of national security concerns.

Over national security and data privacy concerns, at least 15 states have prohibited TikTok from being downloaded or used on state-issued devices. Over the last week, Ohio and New Jersey joined the growing movement. This shows that Republican and Democratic governors are responsible for the anxiety.

Ohio Republican Governor Mike DeWine stated in his Executive order “these surreptitious data privacy and cybersecurity practices pose national and local security and cybersecurity threats to users of these applications and platforms and the devices storing the applications and platforms.”

Additionally, the app was removed from devices that were issued by the federal government under the $1.7 trillion spending bill. The “No TikTok on Government Devices Act” Sen. Josh Hawley, R-MO, introduced it in the Senate.

“TikTok is a Trojan Horse for the Chinese Communist Party. It’s a major security risk to the United States, and until it is forced to sever ties with China completely, it has no place on government devices,” Hawley stated in a Statement December “States across the U.S. are banning TikTok on government devices. It’s time for Joe Biden and the Democrats to help do the same.”

The Daily Wire reported that Seattle Public School District officials filed a Lawsuit Friday’s action against TikTok, a social media platform owner, was to stop the youth mental health crisis.

According to the lawsuit, students with mental health problems perform poorly in school and are less likely than others to attend class. “directly affects Seattle Public School’s ability to fulfill its educational mission.”