Congressman Walberg Warns Newsmax: TikTok Threatens National Security

March 13, 2024 TruthUSA

Rep. Tim Walberg, speaking before a House vote on Wednesday to pass a bill that may lead to the eventual ban of the social media app TikTok in the U.S., emphasized on Newsmax that allowing a Chinese-owned company to maintain control of the app poses a national security risk.

“With the existing algorithms and the amount of data being collected, it presents a threat to our nation,” stated the Michigan Republican on “National Report.” “However, it is important to clarify from the outset: This is not a complete ban on TikTok. That has never been the intention.”

The bipartisan legislation passed the House with a vote of 352-65, with Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, voting present. President Joe Biden has expressed his intention to sign the bill into law if it clears the Senate and reaches his desk.

The bill, known as the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, does not outright ban the video app, but grants the president, along with federal intelligence agencies and the FBI, the authority to designate social media apps controlled by adversarial countries such as China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea as national security threats.

Walberg shared that lawmakers spent over a year working on the bill, offering TikTok a choice regarding its future by deciding whether it wants to continue being controlled by ByteDance, a company under the influence of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

“The choice is theirs,” Walberg explained. “If they opt to remain with ByteDance, they will effectively ban themselves. This isn’t our decision. We worked diligently to ensure that we did not violate the First Amendment and allowed a platform to remain that could be beneficial or harmful to many individuals.”

According to Walberg, if TikTok chooses to remain with ByteDance, it will seal its own fate.

Walberg recounted that he had asked TikTok Chairman Zhang Yiming last year about the location of the company’s data, and received a false response claiming it was stored in Virginia.

“In reality, it is controlled by China,” Walberg asserted. “Even in their internal communications, it was indicated that China would always have access to all the data. This level of control that the CCP could exert over American citizens is unacceptable.”

Walberg speculated that the lawmakers who voted against the bill either misunderstood its purpose, had personal objections, or were indifferent to the fact that China could manipulate the information on TikTok.

He pointed out that although it may seem odd for Biden’s campaign to use the app, if the bill becomes law, the campaign would also lose that opportunity if TikTok chooses to stick with ByteDance.

“We are simply asking for divestment and a shift to a different platform or ownership,” stated Walberg. “Young individuals can still utilize it, and the President can continue using it, but the data would not be controlled by the Chinese Communist Party.”

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