Democrat Sen. Mark Warner has admitted that former President Donald Trump was proper about TikTok being an “huge menace.”
Sen. Warner, who chairs the Senate Intelligence Committee, made the remarks throughout an interview with Shannon Bream on Fox Information Sunday.
The senator informed Bream, “as painful as it’s for me to say, if Donald Trump was proper and we might’ve taken motion then, that’d have been a heckuva lot simpler than making an attempt to take motion in November of 2022.”
Trump had thought of banning the app throughout his presidency however was subjected to vital pushback from the left.
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Virginia Democrat Sen. Mark Warner on TikTok: “I feel Donald Trump was proper. TikTok is a gigantic menace.” pic.twitter.com/8g2fRwxrF7
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The social media platform’s mother or father firm, ByteDance, has ties to the Chinese language Communist Get together.
“Did Washington merely not hear as a result of they didn’t just like the messenger then and what can we do now?” Bream requested.
“Effectively, I feel Donald Trump was proper,” Warner mentioned. “I imply, TikTok is a gigantic menace.”
Warner mentioned TikTok is “an enormous collector of knowledge,” together with from youngsters.
“So for those who’re a mother or father and you bought a child on TikTok, I might be very, very involved,” Warner mentioned. “All of that information that your baby is inputting and receiving is being saved someplace in Beijing.”
Earlier this month, Sen. Tom Cotton despatched a letter to Homeland Safety Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas demanding details about international TikTok staff in america.
Sen. Cotton Calls for Solutions on Overseas TikTok Workers within the US
Cotton cited safety considerations that TikTok and its Chinese language mother or father firm ByteDance pose to Americans’ private information.
He additionally requested particulars on TikTok’s use of H-1B visitor staff who might have ties to the Chinese language Communist Get together.
“I write relating to TikTok and its Chinese language mother or father firm, ByteDance, and their use of H-1B visitor employee visas for workers who might need ties to the Chinese language Communist Get together (CCP),” Sen. Cotton wrote.
The letter continued, “TikTok captures huge quantities of personal info on customers, together with Americans, and has lengthy been suspected of offering the CCP with potential entry to that info. This threatens the security and safety of Americans, and likewise features as an avenue for the Chinese language authorities to trace the places of and develop blackmail on Federal staff and contractors.”
“In response to safety and espionage considerations, TikTok claims that it shops ‘all TikTok US consumer information in america,’ and that its ‘information facilities are positioned totally outdoors of China,’” Sen. Cotton continued. “In a Senate listening to, TikTok’s vice chairman added that TikTok has a ‘US-based safety crew that handles entry to consumer information.’ Nonetheless, current public experiences point out that delicate information on American customers of TikTok has been accessed from inside China, that Beijing-based staff of ByteDance have focused particular American customers for surveillance, and that at the very least 300 TikTok and ByteDance staff are additionally present or former staff of Chinese language state media.”