Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) recently advised parents to check if their children are using the extremely popular social media app TikTok, warning that the app is Chinese-owned and sends the user data of their children back to the communist country.
In a recent Instagram post, Sen. Maro Rubio warned parents that their children may be using the popular app TikTok which is developed by a Chinese company, meaning that people are voluntarily giving their personal information to the Chinese government.
Rubio wrote in his post: “Dear Parents: Do your family a favor & check to see if your kids are on TikTok. Answer is almost certainly yes. TikTok is a Chinese owned company that is collecting all sorts of personal data on your kids & by extension your family. If you don’t want to donate personal data to China then #DeleteTikTok”
Recently, Rubio called on the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) to review the acquisition of social media app Musical.ly by TikTok owner Beijing ByteDance Technology Co. over claims that TikTok is used by the Chinese government to censor certain political content.
Rubio stated in a letter to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin that Chinese-owned apps “are increasingly being used to censor content and silence open discussion on topics deemed sensitive by the Chinese Government and Communist Party.” The Treasury secretary heads the CFIUS, which reviews mergers such as that of Musical.ly and TikTok to ensure that they do not damage national security.
Rubio stated that there was evidence that TikTok in the United States was censoring political content that was “not in line” with the Chinese government. Rubio stated that China “is using these apps to advance their foreign policy and globally suppress freedom of speech, expression, and other freedoms that we as Americans so deeply cherish.” In one example, TikTok has blacklisted popular Christian app pray.com from advertising on its app.
A spokesperson for TikTok clarified that the firm stores all of its U.S. user data in the United States. “The Chinese government does not request that TikTok censor content, and would not have jurisdiction regardless, as TikTok does not operate there,” the spokesperson stated.
Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship. Follow him on Twitter @LucasNolan or email him at lnolan@breitbart.com
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