FBI Chief Warns TikTok is a ‘National Concern’

Concerns about TikTok have been circulating throughout the United States for years. On Tuesday, FBI Director, Christopher Wray, warned lawmakers that he is “extremely concerned” about TikTok’s operations in the United States. 

In Wray’s testimony to Congress, he said “We do have national security concerns, obviously from the FBI’s end, about TikTok. They include the possibility that the Chinese government could use it to control data collection on millions of users, or control the recommendation algorithm which could be used for influence operations if they so choose, or to control software on millions of devices.”

Wray acknowledged that “China has been the most active foreign entity in terms of stealing Americans’ personal and business data,” The New York Post reported. 

A major concern about the app is that TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, uses its technology to access the location of some specific U.S. citizens. Forbes initially reported this concern which TikTok denied, slamming the news source for lacking “both rigor and journalistic integrity.” 

CNBC reported Wray said the FBI’s foreign investment unit is working through the Department of Justice to help come up with a solution for the security concerns here in the United States.