HomePolitical NewsFCC Pushes Apple and Google to Ban Chinese-Owned Social Media App Mike June 29, 2022 FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr is pushing for Apple and Google to ban the Chinese-owned social media app TikTok, comparing the app to a "wolf in sheep's clothing." Brendan Carr, the ranking Republican FCC commissioner, addressed Apple CEO Tim Cook and Google CEO Sundar Pichai about the issue and urged them to ban the app from their respective app stores. His case is the app "harvests swaths of sensitive data" from U.S. users. TikTok is not just another video app.That’s the sheep’s clothing. It harvests swaths of sensitive data that new reports show are being accessed in Beijing. I’ve called on @Apple & @Google to remove TikTok from their app stores for its pattern of surreptitious data practices. pic.twitter.com/Le01fBpNjn — Brendan Carr (@BrendanCarrFCC) June 28, 2022 Leaked audio obtained from Buzzfeed revealed how "Everything is seen in China," while another brings up a China-based engineer who is a "Master Admin" who has "access to everything." Carr wrote that TikTok has access to "everything from search and browsing histories to keystroke patterns and biometric identifiers, including faceprints and voiceprints." "It is clear that TikTok poses an unacceptable national security risk due to its extensive data harvesting being combined with Beijing's apparently unchecked access to that sensitive data," Carr wrote. "Therefore, I am requesting that you apply the plain text of your app store policies to TikTok and remove it from your app stores for failure to abide by those terms." Back in 2020 then President Trump ordered requiring Chinese company ByteDance to sell or otherwise divest from its U.S. TikTok business within 90 days. The forced sale of the massively popular Chinese-owned app has fizzled under the Biden administration.
