FCC commissioner: The US government should ban TikTok

[Alfonso Maruccia]

A hot potato: Expressing a bipartisan concern about China surveillance on US citizens, FCC commissioner Brendan Carr wants a national ban against the TikTok app. However, TikTok is not giving in and is still looking forward to an agreement with the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS).

Brendan Carr, a lawyer currently serving as a commissioner of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), has returned to his favorite sport: bashing TikTok and calling for a tighter control on the Chinese-controlled app by the US government. At this point, Carr said, there is very little confidence about the company's ability to properly handle US users' data.

Carr was appointed as a member of the FCC by Donald Trump in 2017, and he has been a vocal critic of the data collecting app for a while. In the commissioner's own words, TikTok isn't "just another video app" but "a sophisticated surveillance tool that harvests extensive amounts of personal and sensitive data" with direct connections to Beijing's communist dictatorship.

A few months ago, Carr asked Google and Apple to remove TikTok from their respective app stores; in a new interview with CNN, the commissioner is now calling for a nationwide ban despite the efforts made by both parties – the US government and TikTok – to come to an agreement.

ByteDance, TikTok's parent company, is currently negotiating with the CFIUS a proposal that should ease any concern about the Chinese government authorities' access to TikTok data relating to US citizens. The company has supposedly migrated all such data to servers run by Oracle, but there's still a bipartisan opinion about the fundamentally Orwellian nature of the app.

According to Carr, even the best deal cut by the CFIUS wouldn't be enough; at this point "I have a very, very difficult time looking at TikTok's conduct thinking we're going to cut a technical construct that they're not going to find a way around," Carr said.

The new position expressed by Carr reflects a "natural progression" in his thinking about TikTok, and it is apparently informed by the FCC's own work to limit China's influence in US telecommunications networks. On the other hand, TikTok remains confident about a satisfying agreement with Washington. "Commissioner Carr has no role in or direct knowledge of the confidential discussions with the US government related to TikTok," the company remarked, "and he is not in a position to discuss what those negotiations entail."

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https://www.techspot.com/news/96551-fcc-commissioner-us-government-ban-tiktok.html

 

[Theinsanegamer]

The government is so two faced on the TikTok issue, having the gall to complain about tracking "user data". It's so popular now I doubt a ban would even work

 

[Geralt]

US and its constant creation of enemies. As if banning was the real solution to that pathological condition.

 

[mgilbert]

While they are at it, Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and all other so called "social media" platforms should also be shut down. Maybe then our youth could actually learn to interact with other adults, face to face. And perhaps they could also learn to complete a sentence, maybe even doing so without interjecting the word "like" into that sentence three or four times. "Social" media has done immeasurable damage to our society. Isn't that ironic...

 

[trparky]

"Social" media has done immeasurable damage to our society. Isn't that ironic...

Couldn't agree more with that statement.

 

[DSirius]

This is hilarious.
Brendan Carr has just exposed FCC hypocrisy at it's best (himself too).
To this "standards" FCC should have already banned Facebook, Instagram, Google, Microsoft, Apple, etc more than 10 years ago.
In reality it's all about "wild" competition between Tik-Tok and all these US spying corporations which are loosing hard. And Tik-Tok is beating all of them to the ground.
Start doing your job and protect users and customers from all these greedy corporations and also make laws for the citizens like EU is doing.
A "funny" spectacle to watch for the rest of the world.

 

[kira setsu]

While they are at it, Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and all other so called "social media" platforms should also be shut down. Maybe then our youth could actually learn to interact with other adults, face to face. And perhaps they could also learn to complete a sentence, maybe even doing so without interjecting the word "like" into that sentence three or four times. "Social" media has done immeasurable damage to our society. Isn't that ironic...

don't single out the kids, include everyone, social media in almost all of its forms has caused long-lasting and permanent damage, sadly it won't be going away.

 

[mgilbert]

don't single out the kids, include everyone, social media in almost all of its forms has caused long-lasting and permanent damage, sadly it won't be going away.

Agreed... When you're right, you're right!

 

[Impudicus]

So worried about China but everything we own is made there. It's ok to save money and maximize profits on the backs slave wadges and becoming completely reliant on China, like what could go wrong?

 

[Nobina]

These guys are worried about spying, meanwhile I though they found some sense and wanted to ban it cause of what it does to people.

 

[Chuck55]

[HEADING=2]Donald Trump-era ban on TikTok dropped by Joe Biden[/HEADING]
******* Biden strikes again!

 

[Geralt]

These guys are worried about spying, meanwhile I though they found some sense and wanted to ban it cause of what it does to people.

To watch those short videos is fun for some time, but there is a point when you don't want anymore because your mind goes just nuts! It is like eating honey: If you cross the line with the quantity you will end up with an intoxication.

 

[merikafyeah]

If you believe the CCP doesn't have access to TikTok user data because they say they don't, well I have a bridge to sell you.

Banning TikTok entirely would do humanity a net positive:

 

[Avro Arrow]

Their schools are underfunded, their infrastructure is crumbling, their crime rate is through the roof, there's an epidemic of opioid addiction, medical bills are bankrupting people, they have a catastrophic shortage of affordable housing, their Supreme Court is full of psychopaths and they're on the verge of another civil war.

Forget all that though, the US government's first priority is banning TikTok.

 

[Reallyhow]

If you believe the CCP doesn't have access to TikTok user data because they say they don't, well I have a bridge to sell you.

Banning TikTok entirely would do humanity a net positive:

If you really want a net positive, you'll need to bury Facebook, Twitter, and basically everything Murdoch owns.

 

[FaTaL]

Tiktok is junk food trash piece of sht that should be banned. its all fake propaganda and *****s that post on there.

 

[Reallyhow]

Tiktok is junk food trash piece of sht that should be banned. its all fake propaganda and *****s that post on there.

Have you ever heard of Faux News?

 

[Avro Arrow]

If you really want a net positive, you'll need to bury Facebook, Twitter, and basically everything Murdoch owns.

You're not wrong. Rupert Murdoch has done more damage to US society than TikTok ever could.

 

[AlaskaGuy]

You're not wrong. Rupert Murdoch has done more damage to US society than TikTok ever could.

And how is that?

 

[punctualturn]

Funny how they go on and on about this against TikTok, but not one peep about Meta and all the “access points” they have(IG, WhatsApp, facebook).

I honestly believe that this is because none of the 3 letters agencies have backdoor access to TikTok in the same way that meta, google, apple, amazon and MS does.

 

[PEnnn]

Their schools are underfunded, their infrastructure is crumbling, their crime rate is through the roof, there's an epidemic of opioid addiction, medical bills are bankrupting people, they have a catastrophic shortage of affordable housing, their Supreme Court is full of psychopaths and they're on the verge of another civil war.

Forget all that though, the US government's first priority is banning TikTok.

Best post of the year.

 

[MyIOnU]

CCP tool thic thot should be banned long time ago. Even Chinese people can't get on the Western version. Western version is just a CCP tool to spread propaganda and the goal is to destroy Western cultures.

 

[Rq3EWAq]

Why not banning Facebook? It's spying on US citizens just like TikTok if not more!

 

[captaincranky]

Western version is just a CCP tool to spread propaganda and the goal is to destroy Western cultures.

The thing that galls me is, why does China have the hubris to think we need their help to destroy our culture? We're doing just fine on own, thank you very much.

 

[Avro Arrow]

Best post of the year.