[Gatestone] Chinese law requires all Chinese companies to turn over information to the Communist Party upon request -- and ByteDance, the owner of TikTok, reportedly employs more than 130 Party members to ensure compliance. In December, it was revealed that ByteDance had used TikTok to surveil several journalists to track down the journalists' sources.
The United States recently banned TikTok from all federal government devices over growing security concerns. That is a good start.
TikTok, FBI Director Christopher Wray warned at the beginning of December, is controlled by the Chinese government, which is a national security concern.
TikTok, a video-sharing app owned by Chinese company ByteDance, has, according to TikTok's own estimates, 1 billion users worldwide. In 2021, TikTok had approximately 87 million users in the US, according to Statista. Disturbingly, a recent study found that 10% of US adults get their news from the Chinese app, up from 3% in 2020.
Wray said that China's government can control the app's recommendation algorithm, "which allows them to manipulate content, and if they want to, to use it for influence operations."
"All of these things are in the hands of a government that doesn't share our values, and that has a mission that's very much at odds with what's in the best interests of the United States. That should concern us," Wray said in a speech at the University of Michigan.
Wray's comments echoed those he made at the "Worldwide Threats to the Homeland" hearing held at the House of Representatives Homeland Security Committee on November 15. 
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