- “I personally think there is a risk if you put tick-tock on your phone,” Krishnamoorthi said
- Krishnamoorthi insisted his legislation is not a ‘ban’ but forces the sale of TikTok by Chinese state conglomerate ByteDance
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Top Democrat Raja Krishnamoorthi said the Biden campaign is taking a ‘risk’ by being on TikTok.
President Biden has endorsed Krishnamoorthi’s bill, which he co-authored with Rep. Mike Gallagher, but that hasn’t stopped his campaign from using the popular video-sharing app.
‘I don’t want to instruct the president on how to campaign,’ Krishnamoorthi said on ‘CNN This Morning’ on Monday. ‘I don’t have TikTok on my personal phone, it’s banned from public devices. But I think people should use it very carefully right now.’
He added that politicians are taking a ‘risk’ by having the app on phones that also have their campaign data on it.
Top Democrat Raja Krishnamoorthi said the Biden campaign is taking a “risk” by being on TikTok
“I personally think there is a risk if you put TikTok on your phone,” Krishnamoorthi said. ‘It has access to your data and ultimately the CCP is in control of the algorithm.’
His comments come after TikTok sent chills down the spines of Americans when children were asked by the app to call their local representatives and urge them not to vote for the new bill. Some said they couldn’t access the app until they called.
Still, the bill passed the Energy and Commerce Committee 50-0.
Krishnamoorthi said the call campaign turned a lot of “skinny yes” votes in committee into solid yes votes.
“TikTok used geolocation data of minor children’s locations to then spread misinformation about the bill,” he said.
Like other supporters of the bill, Krishnamoorthi insisted that the legislation is not a ‘ban’ but forces the sale of TikTok by Chinese state-linked ByteDance.
If ByteDance refuses to sell TikTok, app stores and web hosting platforms will not be allowed to distribute it in the US
President Biden has endorsed Krishnamoorthi’s bill, which he co-authored with Rep. Mike Gallagher, but that hasn’t stopped his campaign from using the popular video-sharing app
Although the bill has garnered broad bipartisan support, former President Donald Trump muddied the waters for its passage in the House after he came out against the legislation.
The bill is expected to come up for a vote in Parliament this week under a process known as suspension – meaning it requires a two-thirds majority to pass.
“Honestly, there are a lot of people on TikTok who love it,” he said during an interview on CNBC on Monday. ‘There are a lot of young kids on TikTok who will go crazy without it. There are many users, there is a lot of good and there is a lot of bad with TikTok.’
“What I don’t like is that without TikTok, you’re going to make Facebook bigger, and I consider Facebook an enemy of the people along with a lot of media,” Trump said.
Trump reiterated his concern that a TikTok ban would only make social media platforms like Facebook more powerful — and argued that other social networks also share data with China.
“They are not so American, they trade in China, and if China wants something from them, they will give it, so it is also a national security,” he said.
Last Thursday, Trump surprised conservatives after he expressed opposition to a TikTok ban.
‘If you get rid of TikTok, Facebook and Zuckerschmuck will double their business. I don’t want Facebook that cheated in the last election to do better, Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform on Monday. ‘They are a true public enemy!’