Tristan Harris, Center for Humane Technology warns, “In China’s version of TikTok, if you are under 14 years old, they show you science experiments you can do at home, museum exhibits, patriotism videos, and educational videos, and they also limit use to only 40 minutes per day. Now, they don’t ship that version of TikTok to the rest of the world. It’s almost like they recognize that technology is influencing kids, so they make their domestic version a spinach version of TikTok, while they ship their opium version to the rest of the world.” Brendan Carr, FCC Commissioner, says, “I think it is a very smart move to ban TikTok. TikTok is China’s digital fentanyl. A lot of people look at TikTok and think it is just a fun application for sharing dance videos or other funny videos, but that is just a sheep’s clothing. Underneath, it operates as a very sophisticated surveillance app. It is pulling everything from search and browsing history, potentially keystroke patterns, biometrics including face-prints and voice-prints. Up to now, we have been told by TikTok officials, ‘Don’t worry. All of this is stored in the U.S., or stored outside of China.’ But this summer there was a blockbuster story that internal communications from TikTok said everything is seen back in China. That is a risk for espionage, foreign political influence, and other activity. There was a report that officials of ByteDance, the parent of the app in Beijing, are attempting to surveil the location of specific Americans through this app. There are real, serious dangers here.”
“TikTok,” Fox News, Nov. 11, 2022
