The Chinese authorities may use the favored social media platform TikTok to manage the info of hundreds of thousands of American customers, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director Christopher Wray mentioned Wednesday, as he expressed concern in regards to the video app.
Wray advised a Senate Intelligence Committee listening to on worldwide threats to U.S. safety that the Chinese authorities may additionally use TikTok to manage software program on hundreds of thousands of units and drive narratives to divide Americans over Taiwan or different points.
“Yes, and I would make the point on that last one, in particular, that we’re not sure that we would see many of the outward signs of it happening if it was happening,” Wray mentioned of considerations China may feed misinformation to customers.
“This is a tool that is ultimately within the control of the Chinese government – and it, to me, it screams out with national security concerns,” Wray mentioned.
The White House backed laws launched on Tuesday by a dozen senators to provide President Joe Biden’s administration new powers to ban TikTok and different foreign-based applied sciences in the event that they pose nationwide safety threats. The endorsement boosted efforts by quite a lot of lawmakers to ban the favored app, which is owned by Chinese firm ByteDance and utilized by greater than 100 million Americans.
Other high U.S. intelligence officers together with Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines, CIA Director William Burns and National Security Agency Director Paul Nakasone agreed on the listening to that TikTok posed a risk to U.S. nationwide safety.
Nakasone on Tuesday expressed concern throughout Senate testimony about TikTok’s information assortment and potential to facilitate broad affect operations.
Source: www.dailysabah.com
