"US Congress Pressures Apple and Google to Remove TikTok from App Markets"

[Asia Economy New York=Special Correspondent Joselgina] Apple and Google are facing pressure from the U.S. Congress to ban the Chinese video-sharing platform 'TikTok.'

According to IT media The Verge and others, on the 2nd (local time), Democratic Senator Michael Bennet (Colorado) sent letters to Apple CEO Tim Cook and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai, Google's parent company, requesting the removal of TikTok from their respective app markets.

Senator Bennet, a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, stated in the letter that the Chinese Communist Party can freely decide the content viewed by one-third of Americans and use Americans' information, arguing that "TikTok's enormous influence and aggressive data collection pose a special threat to U.S. national security." Bennet is the first to directly request TikTok's removal from app markets such as Google Play Store and Apple App Store.

[Image source=EPA Yonhap News]

This move comes as consensus grows within the U.S. Congress to ban TikTok usage citing national security threats. Especially, as calls to ban TikTok, which had been mainly raised by Republicans, have expanded to senior Democrats, discussions in Congress are expected to accelerate. Recently, Republican Representative Mike Gallagher (Wisconsin) and Senator Marco Rubio (Florida) expressed their intention to submit legislation banning TikTok's operations in the U.S.

TikTok's headquarters, ByteDance, is located in China. This raises concerns in the U.S. that sensitive information of Americans could be easily leaked and misused by the Chinese government under Chinese law. The Verge reported that ByteDance employees have repeatedly accessed American users' data over the past few years, which sparked momentum to ban TikTok usage in the U.S. The media also assessed that unlike Google, Apple has much more to lose business-wise if U.S.-China relations deteriorate.

Former President Donald Trump issued an executive order in 2020 to sell TikTok's U.S. business citing security concerns, but President Biden canceled it shortly after taking office, citing unenforceability. Since then, TikTok has been trying to alleviate security concerns through continuous negotiations with the Biden administration, but no progress has been made.

Meanwhile, TikTok CEO Zhou Shouzi will appear at a House Energy and Commerce Committee hearing on March 23. Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers stated in a press release, "TikTok has allowed the Chinese Communist Party to access information of American users," adding, "Privacy issues will be a key agenda item at the hearing." It is reported that CEO Zhou voluntarily decided to attend the hearing.