TikTok creators, some U.S. Democratic lawmakers oppose ban on app

TikTok creators and three U.S. Democratic Party lawmakers on Wednesday said they opposed any potential ban on the Chinese-owned short video sharing app that is used by more than 150 million Americans.

TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew will testify before the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee on Thursday amid growing calls for a ban over national security concerns at a time when relations between Beijing and Washington are not at their best.

At a press conference in Washington, representatives Jamaal Bowman, Mark Pocan and Robert Garcia and TikTok creators called for broad-based privacy legislation that would address all large social media companies.

"Why the hysteria and the panic and the targeting of TikTok?" Bowman asked. "Let's do the right thing here – comprehensive social media reform as it relates to privacy and security."

TikTok creators and three U.S. Democratic Party lawmakers on Wednesday said they opposed any potential ban on the Chinese-owned short video sharing app that is used by more than 150 million Americans.

TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew will testify before the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee on Thursday amid growing calls for a ban over national security concerns at a time when relations between Beijing and Washington are not at their best.

At a press conference in Washington, representatives Jamaal Bowman, Mark Pocan and Robert Garcia and TikTok creators called for broad-based privacy legislation that would address all large social media companies.

"Why the hysteria and the panic and the targeting of TikTok?" Bowman asked. "Let's do the right thing here – comprehensive social media reform as it relates to privacy and security."

Senator Ed Markey, a Democrat, said on the Senate floor on Wednesday that TikTok is a threat that needs to be addressed but it is not the only surveillance threat to young people. That position "is deliberately missing the Big Tech forest for the TikTok trees."

Democratic Senator Mark Warner said two additional senators backed his bipartisan legislation with Republican John Thune to give the Biden administration new powers to ban TikTok.

"Congress needs to give the administration the tools to review and mitigate the harms posed by foreign technology products that come from adversarial nations," Warner said.

（Reuters）