TikTok ‘Screams’ of National Security Risks: FBI Director

Christopher Wray, FBI Director of FBI, warned Senate Intelligence Committee Members about the dangers on Wednesday TikTok poses to the United States’ security.

“This is a tool that is ultimately within the control of the Chinese government, and it, to me, it screams out with national security concerns,” Wray informed senators on March 8. hearing On “Worldwide Threats.”

TikTok, a popular social media app that boasts more than 1 billion active users worldwide, is owned by the Chinese company ByteDance—a fact that makes the app all the more dangerous, according to Wray.

In an interview with Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), FBI Director, the FBI confirmed that the app had the capability to gather personal information and could be used to control software on electronic devices.

Wray further confirmed that Wray was able to manipulate American users’ content in order to influence political narratives.

“For example, let’s say China wants to invade Taiwan,” Rubio postulated. “[Could TikTok] make sure that Americans are seeing videos arguing why Taiwan belongs to China, why the U.S. should not intervene?”

Wray also confirmed that this was the case. “We’re not sure that we would see many of the outward signs that it was happening if it was happening. And I think … the most fundamental piece that cuts across every one of those risks and threats that you mentioned, that I think Americans need to understand, is something that’s very sacred in our country: the difference between the private sector and the public sector.”

According to him, there is no difference between China and China in communism. TikTok might be required to supply personal information of Americans to the Chinese Communist Party on request.

“So, they can collect our data, manipulate information, poison the minds and feed garbage into the minds of millions of people,” Rubio summarized.

“This is a substantial national security threat for the country of a kind that we didn’t face in the past,” The senator continued. “At the end of the day, it’s not about, you know, some grown man in the middle of the day putting up videos … that people that have a job shouldn’t be putting up. But it’s also about all of these other things that we’ve talked about—the data, the ability to manipulate information. I would imagine that it’s probably one of the most valuable surveillance tools on the planet.”

The Epoch Times has reached TikTok to get their comments.