(RepublicanJournal.org) – Congress is moving forward with bills aimed at tackling the threat TikTok could pose to the US population. Amid the controversy, one Democratic senator says former President Donald Trump was right all along about the possible risks involved with using the Chinese-owned app.
Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA), who serves as chairman of the Select Committee on Intelligence, discussed the issue during a March 11 committee hearing. He told his peers he agreed with Trump’s assessment years ago when the MAGA leader alleged that TikTok created numerous potential security concerns. The Virginia Democrat admitted that it was rare for him to see an issue eye-to-eye with the former president, adding that roughly 170 million Americans currently use the app.
Warner brought up worries over the percentage of those people who use TikTok to get their news. He fears the potential for the Chinese government to push its propaganda through the network is huge, opening the doors for a major national security problem. Rep. Brian Buck (R-CO) introduced HR503, or No TikTok on United States Devices Act, on January 25, and Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) introduced its companion bill, S85. The legislation proposes sanctions against the social media outlet’s owner, ByteDance Limited, for continuing to conduct business in the US. It also directs the Secretary of Defense, the Director of National Intelligence, the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, and the Secretary of Homeland Security to compose a report on the actual threats the app poses to US security.
Trump attempted to ban TikTok in the US in 2020 via an executive order but US courts blocked the move. The former president has since changed his attitude toward the Chinese-owned company, NPR reports, mainly because he fears a ban would empower Facebook, which he views as a rival. Trump adds that younger users would “go crazy without it.”
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