by A Federal Communications Commission commissioner on Tuesday called on the US government to ban the social media platform TikTok over concerns over how the Chinese-owned app handles American user data.
The remarks, made in an interview with Axios, come as the fast-growing app holds ongoing negotiations with the U.S. Foreign Investment Committee, or CFIUS, on whether to continue the U.S. business if it is sold. from the Chinese parent company ByteDance to an American company.
Brendan Carr, one of five FCC commissioners, called on CFIUS to ban TikTok, citing the company’s alleged inability to protect US-based user data.
There is “no world where you could find enough protection on your data that you could have enough confidence that it is not getting back into the hands of the [Chinese Communist Party]”Carr told Axios.
The company told ABC News in a statement that Carr is not involved in negotiations with the US government regarding the app.
“Commissioner Carr has no role in confidential discussions with the US government relating to TikTok and appears to express opinions independent of his role as FCC commissioner,” said Brooke Oberwetter, a spokesperson for TikTok.
“We are confident that we are on track to reach an agreement with the US government that will satisfy all reasonable national security concerns,” Oberwetter added.
The FCC did not immediately respond to ABC News’ request to comment on Carr’s statements.
The Biden administration and TikTok have written a preliminary agreement to address the national security issues posed by the app, but obstacles remain in the negotiations, the New York Times reported in September.
TikTok claims to store US user data outside of China and never removed US posts from the platform at the request of the Chinese government.
MORE: Republican lawmakers revive efforts to ban TikTok on government devices
Recent news has questioned the security of user data.
Buzzfeed reported in June that China-based TikTok engineers had access to intimate information about US users, such as phone numbers. Forbes reported last month that ByteDance intended to use the app to access information about some users.
The Trump administration tried to ban TikTok in 2020, eventually inviting ByteDance to sell the app to a US company. However, the sale never took place.
Carr’s remarks come less than a week before the midterm election, after which a new Congress could take further steps to ban or restrict the app.
FCC commissioner says US should ban TikTok – report originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
