Senator Bennet asks Apple, Google CEOs to ban TikTok from app stores
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Colorado Senator Michael Bennet wrote a letter to Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) CEO Tim Cook and Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) (NASDAQ:GOOGL) CEO Sundar Pichai, asking the two tech chieftains to ban ByteDance's (BDNCE) popular TikTok app from their respective app stores on data privacy and national security concerns.
"...TikTok poses a unique threat because Chinese law obligates that ByteDance, its Beijing-based parent company, to 'support, assist, and cooperate with state intelligence work,'" Bennet wrote in the February 2 letter, which was obtained by The Verge.
"Beijing's requirement raises the obvious risk that the Chinese Communist Party ... could weaponize TikTok against the United States, specifically, by forcing ByteDance to surrender Americans' sensitive data or manipulate the content Americans receive to advance China's interests."
The Colorado Democratic Senator added roughly 36% of all American citizens over the age of 12 use TikTok, including 61% between the ages of 12 and 34. He also noted the average American spends 80 minutes a day on ByteDance's (BDNCE) TikTok, more than Meta Platforms (META) Facebook and Instagram combined, citing data from the Washington Post.
Apple (AAPL) and Google (GOOG) (GOOGL) have not yet publicly responded to Bennet's letter.
Last month, TikTok reportedly stopped a hiring process needed for consultants that would enable the company to work on an important security deal with the U.S. government.
As part of a potential deal with the Biden Administration, TikTok had been working to hire independent auditors who would report to the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, or CFIUS. The company sent out proposals for the jobs early last month before placing candidates before CFIUS.
However, TikTok reportedly told the consultants that were interviewing for the jobs that hiring was on hold, citing "recent developments." It did not add what those developments were, according to Reuters.
In December, the U.S. Senate passed a bill to ban TikTok on government devices. Additionally, 12 states, including Georgia, Texas, Maryland and Iowa have already passed legislation that restricts the usage of TikTok on devices controlled or issued by their respective state governments.
The U.S. military previously banned TikTok from its government issued devices.
Separately in December, TikTok was reportedly open to allowing further outside scrutiny to close the key U.S. security deal.
As part of the deal, Oracle (ORCL) would review app codes, which creates the look and feel of the app, as well as server codes.
In June, TikTok said it would route all of its U.S. traffic through Oracle's (ORCL) cloud technology infrastructure to better secure the information of its U.S.-based users amid fears of potential interference from the Chinese government.
TikTok has had trouble distancing itself from its parent company, as ByteDance (BDNCE) is still heavily reliant on Chinese workers for some key functions, including messaging, live-streaming and marketplace.