US Director Of National Intelligence Discusses China's Potential Influence Through TikTok In The 2024 Election

Avril Haines, Director of US National Intelligence, stated the TikTok social media application to influence the US elections in 2024. (photo: x @jseldin)

JAKARTA - Avril Haines, Director of US National Intelligence, told the US House Intelligence Committee on Tuesday, March 12 that China could use the social media app TikTok to influence the 2024 US elections.

Asked by Democratic House of Representatives, King Krishna Moorthi, whether the Chinese Communist Party would use TikTok to influence elections, Haines replied: "We cannot eliminate the possibility that the Chinese Communist Party will use it."

Krishnatasthi is also the top member of the Democratic Party on the House of Representatives' Special Committee on China. He and the chairman of the panel from Republican Mike Gallagher last week introduced a bill that would give the Chinese owner of TikTok about six months, ByteDance, to relinquish ownership in a short video app used by 170 million Americans.

The House of Representatives is scheduled to vote on Wednesday, March 13 with fast lane rules that require two-thirds of members to vote "yes" for the bill to be passed.

US President Joe Biden said last week that he would sign the bill, but the popularity of the app and the legislative process in the House and Senate in the election year may be difficult.

The 2024 Annual Threat Assessment of the US Intelligence Community released on Monday 11 March stated that the TikTok account run by the Chinese government's propaganda arm has reportedly targeted candidates from both political parties during the 2022 US general election cycle.

Members of the House of Representatives have long voiced concerns that the Chinese government can access user data or influence what people in the app see, including promoting content to cloud political divisions in the US.

TikTok, which claims that it will not share US user data with the Chinese government, argues that the draft DPR law is a ban. It is unclear whether China will approve sales or whether TikTok can be sold in six months.

FBI Director Christopher Wray, who also spoke at a hearing at the House of Representatives, reiterated his assessment that TikTok poses a national security threat.

"Americans need to ask themselves if they want to give the Chinese government the ability to control access to their data," Wray said, adding that it could eventually "compromise their devices."