Two US senators said they were investigating short video-sharing app TikTok’s recent decision to hire several high-level executives from its Chinese parent company, ByteDance.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat, and Republican Marsha Blackburn said in a letter Tuesday to TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew that the personnel actions further call into question “the independence of TikTok’s operations and the security of the information of its American users.
TikTok, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment, is used by more than 150 million Americans and has faced calls from U.S. lawmakers for a nationwide ban over concerns about possible influence from the Chinese government.
“The personnel changes give the impression that TikTok is attempting to preserve ByteDance’s influence over TikTok by avoiding suspicion,” the senators wrote, requesting a detailed description of the security protocols imposed on ByteDance employees transferring from China To united states.
“The personnel changes give the impression that TikTok is trying to preserve ByteDance’s influence over TikTok by avoiding suspicion,” wrote Senators Richard Blumenthal and Marsha Blackburn.EPA
Efforts to give the Biden administration new powers to ban TikTok have stalled in Congress.
Senator Maria Cantwell has been working with the White House and other lawmakers on a revised bill to address concerns about TikTok and other foreign-owned apps.
Republican Sen. Josh Hawley, who sought unanimous consent to pass legislation to ban TikTok in May, plans to force a vote on the issue later this year.
“We need to go back to this and ban it,” he told Reuters last month. “(TikTok) has hired millions of lobbyists, they are in the hallways constantly and they have been able to stop progress.”
Efforts to give the Biden administration new powers to ban TikTok have stalled in Congress.NurPhoto via Getty Images
In 2020, then-President Donald Trump attempted to ban new downloads of TikTok and another Chinese-owned app, WeChat, a unit of Tencent, but a series of court decisions prevented the bans from taking effect.
TikTok is fighting a ban from the state of Montana that goes into effect on January 1.
A judge scheduled a hearing for Oct. 12 on TikTok’s lawsuit.
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Source: vtt.edu.vn