Following a report from the FCC, the commissioner of the agency called for the government to ban TikTok, a popular social media platform that has ties to the Chinese Communist Party.
According to a report released by Axios, the interview with Carr featured the strongest language he used to urge the government to take action against TikTok.
In an interview with Axios, FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr said that the Foreign Investment Council should take action against TikTok.
According to Carr, there is no path forward for the platform other than to be banned. He cited the recent revelations about how it handled the data of its users.The company is currently in the process of negotiating an agreement with the FCC regarding how it handles its users' data. This could help prevent the data from being transferred to the Chinese Communist Party.
TikTok is also in the process of negotiating an agreement with the CFIUS, an interdepartmental committee that carries out national security reviews related to foreign acquisitions. If the company is allowed to be sold to an American company, it would maintain its operations in the US.
Since it has over 200 million downloads in the U.S., TikTok is becoming a critical infrastructure for information. This has raised concerns about the company's ownership.
According to Carr, there is not a world in which TikTok would be able to protect its users' data. He noted that there is not enough protection in place to prevent the data from being transferred to the Chinese Communist Party.
According to Axios, Carr had already raised red flags about the company before. He asked Google and Apple to remove the TikTok app from their respective platforms.
Despite the uncertainty surrounding the negotiations between the CFIUS and TikTok, the good news is that Commissioner Carr is still urging the government to take action against the company.
Although the FCC doesn't have the power to ban TikTok, Congress acted after Carr raised concerns about Chinese telecommunications companies, such as Huawei.
In August 2020, Trump's administration proposed to ban TikTok. Also, during this time, Microsoft was in talks to purchase the platform. The president cited the potential dangers of the Chinese Communist Party accessing US government data.
Eventually, the administration had to give in to Microsoft's demands and allow the company to proceed with its acquisition of ByteDance. In September 2020, the deal was officially scrapped. Also, Oracle was in the running to purchase TikTok, but that acquisition also failed.
“As far as TikTok is concerned, we’re banning them from the United States,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One.
The Trump administration eventually caved to Microsoft's demands and allowed the company to proceed with its purchase of ByteDance. The deal was officially scrapped in September 2020. Oracle was also a potential buyer for TikTok, but that deal also failed.
The actions taken by Congress against TikTok and Microsoft are a positive sign that the Republicans can regain control of Congress in the upcoming elections. It also shows that the national security issues that have been raised can be resolved.
The preceding is a summary of an article that originally appeared on REDSTATE.
