Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Ore.) went off about the dangers of TikTok during a hearing with the company’s CEO.
Addressing CEO Shou Zi Chew during Thursday’s hearing, McMorris Rodgers said, “You are here because the American people need to know the truth about the threat TikTok poses to our national and personal security.”
She noted the social media platform collects data points on location, who individuals talk to and biometric data.
“Even if they have never been on TikTok, your trackers are embedded in sites across the web. TikTok surveils us all. And the Chinese communist party is able to use this as a tool to manipulate America as a whole,” McMorris Rodgers explained.
She continued, “We do not trust TikTok will ever embrace American values.”
The lawmaker then declared the platform “should be banned.”
Watch her comments below:
“Your platform should be banned.” TikTok and its CEO are demolished in epic takedown by Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers. (Video: C-SPAN) pic.twitter.com/I8fOT0Vsf1
— Mike Sington (@MikeSington) March 23, 2023
McMorris Rodgers argued, “TikTok also targets our children. The ‘for you’ algorithm is a tool for TikTok to own their attention and prey on their innocence.”
Referencing the platform’s alleged promotion of suicide and self harm, she continued, “It’s also a portal for drug dealers to sell illicit fentanyl that China has banned.”
During her statement, McMorris Rodgers pointed out the Chinese Communist Party prohibits certain content that “promotes death and despair to kids.”
Additionally, she equated TikTok’s ability to provide content to kids in the U.S. with “allowing the Soviet Union to produce Saturday morning cartoons during the Cold War.”
Watch more of her remarks below:
House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers says giving TikTok the ability to provide content to US children is "like allowing the Soviet Union to produce Saturday morning cartoons during the Cold War." pic.twitter.com/nu6BxelQXT
— Human Events (@HumanEvents) March 23, 2023
The Associated Press noted Shou Zi Chew’s testimony comes at a “crucial time” during which the company has acquired 150 million users from the United States.
Notably, TikTok and its parent company ByteDance are now involved in a larger battle between Beijing and Washington when it comes to the issues of trade and technology.
“Let me state this unequivocally: ByteDance is not an agent of China or any other country,” Shou Zi Chew said during the testimony.