Federal Communications Commission commissioner Brendan Carr said that the U.S. government should ban TikTok, according to Axios.
“I don’t believe there is a path forward for anything other than a ban," Carr told Axios. According to the report, he later added that “[t]here simply isn't ‘a world in which you could come up with sufficient protection on the data that you could have sufficient confidence that it’s not finding its way back into the hands of the [Chinese Communist Party].’"
His comments come as the Department of Justice (DOJ) works to strike a deal with TikTok on how to resolve national security concerns. Axios explained that the platform “is currently in negotiations with CFIUS [the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S.], an interagency committee that conducts national security reviews of foreign companies' deals, to determine whether it can be divested by Chinese parent company ByteDance to an American company and remain operational in the United States.”
Axios cited a September report from The New York Times that noted DOJ official Lisa Monaco “has concerns that the terms are not tough enough on China.” The Times cited two anonymous sources. But TikTok remains “confident,” according to a statement the company reportedly sent to Axios.
"We are confident that we are on a path to reaching an agreement with the U.S. Government that will satisfy all reasonable national security concerns," a TikTok spokesperson reportedly said.
This is not the first time Carr has commented on the dangers of the world’s most popular app.
Just last week, Carr called TikTok’s user data collection “a potential digital weapon of war” on The Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts’s podcast. “The whole dancing, memes and all that, is simply the sheep’s clothing and underneath the application, operates as a highly sophisticated surveillance tool.”
Carr also pointed to recent events as causes for great concern. He cited BuzzFeed News’s report that China can access non-public American user data and a recent senate hearing where TikTok Chief Operating Officer Vanessa Pappas revealed she did not know if TikTok employed members of the Chinese Communist Party.
Carr is joined by a growing group of politicians who have attempted to ban the app in various capacities. Former President Donald Trump tried to ban the app via executive order in 2020 and the following year Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) called for the app's total ban from the U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) also introduced a bill that unanimously passed in the Senate that would ban TikTok from government devices.
The platform’s anti-American operations don’t stop with data security. An MRC Free Speech America analysis found that the platform permanently banned 11 pro-free speech organizations. Pro-life groups like Live Action and Students for Life of America and commentators like Tom Fitton, Michael Knowles, and retired Lt. Col, Allen West are included among the 11 banned groups and individuals.
Conservatives are under attack. Contact TikTok via email at feedback@tiktok.com or by mail at 10010 Venice Blvd #301, Culver City, CA 90232 and demand that Big Tech be held to account to mirror the First Amendment. If you have been censored, contact us at the Media Research Center contact form, and help us hold Big Tech accountable.
