FCC Commissioner predicted that the Chinese juggernaut Bytedance app would face the same fate in the United States. FCC Commissioner noted that India’s banning of TikTok two and a half years ago created an “incredibly important precedent.”
The FCC’s Brendan Carr cautioned that TikTok “operates as a sophisticated monitoring tool” and said that banning the social media app is the “logical next step in our efforts to safeguard communication networks.”
The senior Republican on the Federal Communications Commission expressed concern that China could utilize private and sensitive information from TikTok for “surveillance, blackmail, espionage, and foreign influence campaigns.”
“We need to follow India’s lead more broadly to weed out other nefarious apps as well,” he said.
Carr’s comments further highlight a movement among American states and lawmakers to be warier of TikTok. Nevertheless, TikTok has gathered over 100 million users throughout the country.
Due to border clashes between the two adjacent countries, India has banned hundreds of Chinese-affiliated apps over the past two years. The banned apps included TikTok, PUBG Mobile, Battlegrounds Mobile India, and UC Browser.
New Delhi claimed that it had banned these apps due to the content. The content posted were threats to the “national security and defense of India, which ultimately impinges upon the sovereignty and integrity of India.”
Before the suspension, TikTok considered India its largest international market in terms of users. The app has over 200 million monthly active users.
US banned TikTok
“India’s strong leadership has been informative and helpful as we have debated banning TikTok in the US,” Carr told the Indian paper. “For those who argue that there is no way to ban an app, India is an example of a country that has done it and done it successfully.”
Last week, the U.S. House prohibited TikTok on any devices under its control, citing a “high risk due to a number of security issues.” After over two dozen states at least partially blocked the app from state-managed devices. They were worried that China might use it to track Americans and censor material. The decision was made to take this action.
“If you look at the history of TikTok’s malign data flows and its misleading representations, I don’t see a path forward for anything other than a blanket ban working,” he said. With a few exceptions, TikTok has been banned on all federal government devices in the US. It was banned after Joe Biden signed a $1.7 trillion spending plan on Thursday. The plan included a clause banning the China-based app due to rising security concerns.
Congress passed the ban last week in a vote, a significant move against the fastest-growing social media site in the world. Opponents of the ban have expressed concern that the government might access user data held in China.
