Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said a US ban on TikTok is worth looking at, citing Chinese ownership of the company behind the video-sharing platform.
(Bloomberg) — Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said a US ban on TikTok is worth looking at, citing Chinese ownership of the company behind the video-sharing platform.
A group of Senate lawmakers recently revived legislation to ban TikTok in the US in response to concern that data it collects could end up with the Chinese government.
“It’s something that should be looked at,” Schumer said on ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday. “We do know there’s Chinese ownership of the company that owns TikTok. And there are some people in the Commerce Committee that are looking into that right now. We’ll see where they come out.”
A similar measure failed in the last Congress. The renewed attempt is likely to prompt opposition from the tech lobby and pits lawmakers against millions of mostly young users of the platform.
A number of anti-TikTok bills have been introduced in recent days and Schumer, who has been critical of TikTok in the past, hasn’t endorsed a specific measure. TikTok Chief Executive Officer Shou Zi Chew is due to appear before the House Energy and Commerce Committee on March 23.
TikTok Inc. Chief Operating Officer Vanessa Pappas told a Senate hearing in September that the company has strict controls over access to data and where it’s stored, and that it wouldn’t give that data to the Chinese government.
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