Top Democrat on China panel says he doesn’t think TikTok will be banned

Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (Ill.), the top Democrat on the new House select committee focused on U.S. competition with China, said he doesn’t think the video-sharing app TikTok will be banned in the U.S., even as lawmakers press for protections on user data collected by the China-based platform.

“Is this the year TikTok gets banned?” host Margaret Brennan asked Krishnamoorthi on CBS News’s “Face the Nation.”

“I don’t think it’s gonna get banned. I think what we’re asking for is, you know, TikTok is owned by ByteDance, a Chinese company, that’s required to provide its user data, including on the 140 million Americans, as well as control of algorithms to the Chinese Communist Party upon request,” Krishnamoorthi said.  

“All we’re saying is, if TikTok is gonna operate here, don’t have that user data and algorithms controlled by an adversarial regime.”

Lawmakers have been pressing to ban the app over national security concerns due to TikTok’s ties to the Chinese Communist Party — as well as ongoing worries about potential data dangers to children on the platform, which is targeted to younger users.

The app has been banned on federal and many state devices due to concerns about its privacy and security.