Senator Calls on Apple and Google to Ban TikTok in App Stores - The New York Times

Technology|Senator Calls connected Apple and Google to Ban TikTok successful App Stores

Senator Michael Bennet, Democrat of Colorado, called connected Apple and Google Thursday to region TikTok from their app stores due to the fact that of nationalist information concerns, arsenic bipartisan unit connected the Chinese-owned institution escalates.

Mr. Bennet, a subordinate of the Senate Intelligence Committee, sent the main executives of Apple and Alphabet, Google’s genitor company, a missive saying nary institution taxable to “Chinese Communist Party dictates should person the powerfulness to accumulate specified extended information connected the American radical oregon curate contented to astir a 3rd of our population.”

TikTok, which is owned by the Chinese net institution ByteDance, has faced questions astir its information practices and whether it is transmitting accusation astir Americans collected from its app to the Chinese authorities.

“It’s irresponsible for america to marque it disposable the mode we have, and I anticipation that Apple and Google volition instrumentality this arsenic an accidental to pb successful this debate,” Mr. Bennet said successful a telephone interview.

His missive to Tim Cook of Apple and Sundar Pichai of Alphabet — the latest changeable against TikTok successful what has go a national frenzy among lawmakers — shows that Democrats are eagerly joining a run that was mostly led by Republicans until recently. Mr. Bennet’s telephone harks backmost to the Trump administration’s effort to barroom TikTok and WeChat, different Chinese-owned app, from U.S. app stores successful September 2020, a determination that met ineligible absorption and yet failed.

Lawmakers and regulators person progressively criticized TikTok arsenic it waits for the Biden medication to respond to the company’s plan, submitted successful August, detailing however it volition forestall the Chinese authorities from having entree to information connected U.S. users, and however it volition connection the U.S. authorities oversight of the platform.

Brooke Oberwetter, a spokeswoman for TikTok, said that the missive relied connected “misleading reporting astir TikTok, the information we cod and our information information controls.” She added it besides ignored the company’s important concern successful its plan, known arsenic Project Texas, “to supply further assurances to our assemblage astir their information information and the integrity of the TikTok platform.”

Google and Apple did not instantly respond to a petition for comment.

More than 2 twelve states, including respective led by Democratic governors, person banned TikTok successful immoderate manner successful the past 2 months. A bipartisan measure that was introduced successful Congress successful December would prohibition the app for everyone successful the United States. Some college campuses and cities person besides adopted bans.

Lawmakers person expressed interest astir a Chinese media instrumentality that allows the authorities to secretly request information from Chinese companies and citizens and TikTok’s contented proposal system.