Senator Marco Rubio from Florida has expressed serious concerns regarding the potential misuse of the social media platform TikTok by China against the United States. His opinions were shared in an opinion piece for the New York Post.
Rubio highlighted the obscurity of ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok, among the American public despite its significant influence through the app, which engages around 170 million users in the U.S. He emphasized the unusual corporate and legal ties of ByteDance to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), highlighting how the 2017 national security legislation in China mandates any domestic company to comply with government directives.
Particularly troubling for Rubio is the CCP’s “golden share” in ByteDance, allowing unparalleled control over the company’s decisions through a government-affiliated board member. Despite TikTok’s U.S. base, Rubio pointed out that its core algorithm and operations are run by ByteDance’s engineers in China, who harness artificial intelligence to deeply analyze user data, potentially turning the app into a tool for Beijing.
Rubio’s concern isn’t abstract; he referenced various incidents suggesting ByteDance’s misuse of TikTok for questionable activities, including alleged espionage on U.S. journalists and manipulation of political narratives. He argued that such control by a foreign adversary over a widely influential platform is unacceptable, likening it to a scenario where the U.S. would prevent the CCP from controlling major American media entities.
Highlighting the legislative response, Rubio mentioned the recent House approval of a bill demanding ByteDance divest TikTok or face a ban in the U.S. With the bill moving to the Senate, Rubio, alongside Senator Mark Warner, is committed to ensuring its passage, emphasizing the significant risks posed by ByteDance’s stewardship of TikTok to both national security and individual freedoms.
Rubio called for unified congressional action to mandate TikTok’s separation from ByteDance, framing it as a critical stand for U.S. sovereignty and individual rights.
