© Reuters. FBI Director Christopher Wray discusses charges against three members of an Eastern European criminal organization with ties to Iran’s government for conspiring to assassinate a US citizen journalist and activist, during a news conference in t
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – China’s government could use TikTok to control the data of millions of American users, FBI Director Christopher Wray said at a U.S. Senate hearing on Wednesday, saying the video app Chinese-owned “screams” over security concerns.
Wray told a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing on global threats to US security that the Chinese government could also use TikTok to control software on millions of devices and push narratives to divide Americans over Taiwan or Other themes.
“Yes, and I’d like to point out about the last one, in particular, that we’re not sure we’d see a lot of the outward signs of it happening if it was happening,” Wray said of concerns China could provide misinformation to users.
“This is a tool that is ultimately under the control of the Chinese government, and to me, it screams with national security concerns,” Wray said.
The White House backed legislation introduced Tuesday by a dozen senators to give President Joe Biden’s administration new powers to ban TikTok and other foreign-based technologies if they pose threats to national security. The endorsement spurred efforts by several lawmakers to ban the popular app, owned by Chinese company ByteDance and used by more than 100 million Americans.
Other senior US intelligence officials, including National Intelligence Director Avril Haines, CIA Director William Burns and National Security Agency Director Paul Nakasone, agreed at the hearing that TikTok represented a threat to US national security
Nakasone raised concerns Tuesday during Senate testimony about TikTok’s data collection and the potential to facilitate broad influence operations.