The Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has officially requested a briefing from the FBI on the ongoing investigation into ByteDance, the parent company of social media platform TikTok. Over the past year, legislators have voiced concerns about TikTok, citing potential national security issues.
Mike Gallagher (R-Wis), Chairman of the Select Committee on the CCP, along with Ranking Member Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.) and 22 other members of the Select Committee, have jointly requested a briefing by December 22, 2023. The request was addressed to FBI Director Christopher Wray and includes representatives such as Rob Wittman (R-Va.), Kathy Castor (D-Fla.), Blaine Luetkemeyer (R-Mo.), Andre Carson (D-Ind.), Andy Barr (R-Ky.) , Seth Moulton (D-Mass.), Dan Newhouse (R-Wash.), and Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), among others, according to a press release from the Select Committee on the CCP.
In their letter to Wray, lawmakers express several concerns. They point to reports suggesting that members of the CCP may have access to sensitive information within TikTok. "Under the National Intelligence Law of the People’s Republic of China
(PRC), ByteDance and TikTok are required to assist in CCP intelligence gathering and to provide
the CCP with data—including on Americans," said lawmakers in their letter. "These alarming reports reaffirm our concerns
regarding the CCP’s ability to use TikTok to spy on Americans and influence the content that
they consume."
Criticism of TikTok has been ongoing for months. Montana is currently the first and only state to enforce a complete ban on this social media platform. U.S. lawmakers have raised concerns about TikTok's ownership by ByteDance and its alleged ties to the CCP, expressing worries about the potential use of the platform to access data from U.S. citizens for spying purposes, as reported by CNN.
Recently, lawmakers have raised new concerns about the content on TikTok, leading to renewed calls for a ban in the United States. This increase in calls follows the outbreak of the Israel-Palestine war. Lawmakers argue that the platform promotes pro-Hamas content, and critics claim that TikTok is using its influence to push content supporting the Palestinian cause. Lawmakers express concern over the growing reliance of Americans on TikTok as a significant source of news and the platform's alleged manipulation of information, according to NBC.
"As it stands today, we believe that under ByteDance ownership, TikTok is a threat to U.S. national security, and American citizens could be unwittingly compromising themselves to CCP surveillance and influence," lawmakers wrote in their letter. "Just last December, an internal ByteDance investigation found that employees tracked multiple American journalists covering TikTok and gained access to their IP addresses and user data on TikTok. In addition, TikTok’s algorithms can not only influence the content that
Americans see, possibly at the direction of the CCP, but it can also censor or amplify
information."
