Sens. Warner, Rubio urge FTC investigation of TikTok over 'repeated misrepresentations'

The bipartisan leadership of the Senate Intelligence Committee wants the Biden administration to investigate TikTok over allegations that the social media company has misrepresented how it handles people’s data.

Sens. Mark Warner, Virginia Democrat, and Marco Rubio, Florida Republican, wrote to the Federal Trade Commission to ask it to investigate the company’s assertions about how the Chinese-owned app gathers and processes Americans’ data.

“The majority of TikTok data — including content posted by users as well as their unique IDs — will remain freely accessible to PRC-based ByteDance employees,” the senators wrote referring to the People’s Republic of China. “In light of repeated misrepresentations by TikTok concerning its data security, data processing, and corporate governance practices, we urge you to act promptly on this matter.”

The bipartisan duo cited revelations that engineers in China had access to U.S. data last year, according to leaked audio of internal meetings obtained by BuzzFeed. The senators said they doubted TikTok’s assertions about its efforts to safeguard data from the Chinese Communist Party.

TikTok has previously touted its partnership with American tech company Oracle to develop data management plans, which TikTok said Oracle will audit.

Asked about the senators’ letter, TikTok spokesperson

Continue Reading at The Washington Times.