In a letter to Apple and Google CEOs Tim Cook and Sundar Pichai on Thursday, Sen. Michael Bennet (D-CO) demanded that TikTok be removed “immediately” from their app stores. Bennet’s push to limit app downloads is the latest in a string of congressional actions to outlaw the embattled Chinese-owned app. Republicans and Democrats have been calling on their colleagues and Biden administration officials to impose stricter data collection restrictions or a nationwide ban on the app since January, citing potential threats to US national security.
“TikTok’s vast influence and aggressive data collection pose a specific threat to US national security because of its parent company’s obligations under Chinese law,” Bennet wrote. “Given these grave and growing concerns, I ask that you remove TikTok from your respective app stores immediately.”
Bennet, a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, is the first lawmaker to contact app store providers such as Apple and Google and request that TikTok be removed. TikTok has been in talks with the federal government, specifically the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), for more than three years in order to continue operating its app in the United States. TikTok has come under increasing scrutiny from lawmakers who are concerned that the app may share US user data with the Chinese government.
TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew described “Pr
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