FBI Director Chris Wray today expressed national security concerns regarding the TikTok, warning that control of the famous social network belongs to a Chinese government that does not share the same values as the United States.
Wray noted that the US federal police are concerned that the Chinese have the ability to control the application's recommendation algorithm, which allows them to "manipulate the content and, if you wish, use it to influence operations".
The FBI official also pointed out that China can use the social video sharing network to collect data from its users, which can be used for spying operations.
"All of these things are in the hands of a government that does not share our values and that has a mission that is at odds with what is in the best interest of the United States. That should worry us“, stressed Wray during a hearing at the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy, at the University of Michigan.
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These concerns are similar to those the FBI director had raised during appearances before the US Congress in November, when the issue was raised.
TikTok is owned by ByteDance, based in Beijing. A spokesman for this social network did not immediately respond to these statements, reported the Associated Press (AP) agency.
In September, during a Senate hearing, TikTok's director of operations, Vanessa Pappas, assured that the company protects all data from US users and that authorities linked to the Chinese government do not have access to these.
"We will never share data, period“, stressed Pappas.
Concerned about China's influence on TikTok, the Government of Donald Trump threatened in 2020 to ban the application in the US and pressured ByteDance to sell TikTok to an American company.
US officials and the company are now in talks over a possible deal that would address Americans' security concerns, a process that Wray said was under way at US Government agencies, led by Joe Biden.
