Like the Senate A bill to force the sale or ban of TikTok, lawmakers heard directly from intelligence officials about the alleged national security threat posed by the app. Now two distinguished senators Declassifying the Office of National Intelligence and making public what they shared.
“We are deeply troubled by the information and concerns raised by the intelligence community in recent classified briefings to Congress,” wrote Democratic Senators Richard Blumenthal and Republican Senator Marsha Blackburn. “It is critical that the American people, especially TikTok users, understand the national security issues at stake.”
The exact nature of the intelligence community’s concerns about the program has long been the subject of debate. House lawmakers received a similar briefing before voting on the bill. But while the briefing appeared to bolster support for the measure, some members said they disagreed with one lawmaker. that “nothing we’ve heard … is unique to TikTok.”
according to , some senators described their briefing as “shocking,” though the group isn’t exactly known for its particularly nuanced understanding of the tech industry. (Blumenthal, for example, (Facebook executives “committed to ending finsta”) In its report, Axios It says one lawmaker “told them that TikTok was able to spy on the microphone on users’ devices, track keystrokes and determine what users were doing on other apps.” This may sound alarming, but it is also a description of species social media services have been in demand for over a decade.
There is TikTok its ties to parent company ByteDance would allow Chinese government officials to intercept its service or spy on Americans. So far, there is no clear evidence that TikTok is being used in this way. If U.S. intelligence officials have more evidence than speculation, it would be a major blow to the long-running debate over the program.
