[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 45 (Wednesday, March 13, 2024)]
[House]
[Page H1162]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
TIKTOK
(Mr. LANGWORTHY asked and was given permission to address the House
for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
Mr. LANGWORTHY. Mr. Speaker, with an estimated 170 million Americans
using TikTok every single month, the app is dominating the social media
landscape, and every single one of these users, including American
children, agreed to the terms and conditions of the app, allowing
TikTok to access all of their personal data on the user's phone.
This is a significant national security risk as TikTok's parent
company, ByteDance, is owned by the Chinese Communist Party, meaning
TikTok is essentially operating as Communist Chinese malware.
With every dance challenge and lip-sync video, American users are
unknowingly contributing to a vast surveillance apparatus, and the
potential for abuse of this data is chilling, ranging from targeted
advertising to espionage and intelligence gathering.
TikTok's pervasive influence among young Americans makes it an ideal
tool for the CCP to propagate its narratives, shape perceptions, and
advance its geopolitical agenda.
In light of these alarming realities, decisive action is warranted to
mitigate the risks TikTok poses in its current form. That is why I urge
my colleagues to join me in supporting H.R. 7521 to force TikTok to
break up with the CCP.
It is time to wake up and see the real national security threat at
hand.
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