Politicians from both parties have introduced a bill to ban the video platform. The FBI had previously warned that China could use the app to collect data and exert influence.
Former President Donald Trump failed in 2020 in an attempt to ban Americans from downloading the Chinese video app Tiktok. Now there is another attempt: MPs from both parties have in Congress a bill brought in to ban the app. Republican Senator Marco Rubio said in a statement that all social media transactions influenced by China or Russia should be banned.
His party colleague Mike Gallagher from the House of Representatives made a clear comparison: another toleration of Tiktok is like a permit for the Soviet Union in the Cold War, the newspapers New York Times and Washington Post and to buy up major TV stations. So far, there has been no statement from the TikTok parent Bytedance or the government in Beijing on the American plans. China has repeatedly denied allegations of espionage.
In Germany, the government has so far rejected a ban on Tiktok
The American security authorities have been targeting the video platform for years. Last month, Chris Wray warned the Chinese government could use the app to take control of millions of US citizens’ personal data. They can also manipulate the software’s recommendation algorithms in order to exert influence. Administrative employees are therefore already prohibited from installing Tiktok on their work devices in several states.
In Germany, Digital Minister Volker Wissing (FDP) rejected a special law regulating Tiktok in June. According to media reports, he emphasized at the time that digitization had to take place in an area of freedom, trust and transparency. Otherwise you run the risk of creating a sum of intranets and thus a European, a Chinese and a US Internet.