Cotton Praises Trump for TikTok Stance — ‘Trojan Horse’ on Your Phone

As President Donald Trump weighs a ban on popular video app, TikTok should Microsoft not acquire the platform, Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) during Monday’s “Fox & Friends” reacted to the president’s firm stance against the Chinese-owned app.

Cotton praised the Trump administration for not allowing TikTok to operate in the United States as long as it has ties to China, arguing the app works as a “trojan horse” in people’s phones to steal data and photos that the Chinese Communist Party will have the ability to access.

“On the front of TikTok, just the app on one’s phone, it seems to be a fun video-sharing app. Seems harmless, but the back end of TikTok really is a trojan horse on your phone,” Cotton advised. “It vacuums up all the data, the contacts, the emails, the text messages, the photos, the location data, your facial recognition software, even the keystrokes on your phone. It sends that back to Chinese servers, which are always susceptible to access by the Chinese Communist Party. That is a real risk for America’s families and America’s kids. In some ways, we won’t even know because we will have data for decades ahead. That’s why I’m glad the Trump administration is drawing a firm line in saying that TikTok cannot continue to operate in the United States if it continues to have any ties to China whatsoever.”

“I don’t know what the terms of a potential sale of Microsoft would be. What’s critical, though, is that it has to sever all ties to ByteDance and to China. It can’t just be data and servers housed in the United States. There can be no code. There can be no algorithms. There can be no ties whatsoever between a new U.S.-based TikTok and ByteDance or China,” he added.

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