US National Security Agency Director Paul Nakasone warned on Tuesday about the impact of TikTok.
Speaking before the Senate Armed Services Committee, he expressed his concerns about the potential of a Chinese-owned video app to facilitate data collection and wide-ranging operations.
“Tik-Tok worries me for many different reasons,” the director told Sen. Tommy Tuberville, Republican of Alabama.
At first, Nakasone said he was concerned about “the data they have.”
TikTok could become a huge propaganda machine for Communist China, Democrat Lawmaker revealed
National Security Agency Director Paul Nakasone expressed his concern over the impact of TikTok. (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
“The other is the algorithm and control over who has the algorithm,” he added.
The NSA chief highlighted TikTok’s ability to “shut down messages” as well as actively influence its users.
The app is used by over 100 million Americans.
This comes after the White House asked all federal agencies to remove the app from government devices within 30 days.
The NSA is concerned about the app’s algorithm — and who controls it. (Thomas Trutschel/Photothek via Getty Images)
The Kentucky Senate passed a bill to ban TikTok from state-issued devices
In 2020, the US government’s Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) ordered the Chinese company ByteDance to divest TikTok over fears that user data could be shared with the Chinese government.
TikTok chief executive Shou Zhichiu is scheduled to appear before Congress on March 23.
Nakasone’s comments came as senators unveiled the Restrictive Act.
Nakasone is not alone when it comes to ByteDance and data-sharing. (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
The quickest and best way to address any national security concerns about TikTok is for CFIUS — of which the Department of Defense and the NSA are a part — to adopt the proposed settlement that we’ve been working with them on for nearly two years. has done,” TikTok. Representative Brooke Oberwetter said, according to Reuters, adding that TikTok’s “position has been publicly debated in a way that is separate from the facts of that agreement and what we’ve already received. done.”
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TikTok did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
Reuters contributed to this report.
