US Security Officials Hold Secret Briefings For Senators On TikTok Threats From China

US Republican Senator Maria Cantwell (photo: x @SenatorCantwell)

JAKARTA - US national security officials will hold a closed briefing on Wednesday, March 20 for senators at the Commerce and Intelligence Committee on threats posed by China's short video app TikTok.

This secret briefing will be held by the chairman of the two committees, Mark Warner and Maria Cantwell, as well as top Republican officials on the panels, Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz. The Senate is considering how to proceed after the House of Representatives voted last week over a bill to force China-based ByteDance to relinquish TikTok holdings within six months or face bans.

The fate of TikTok, used by some 170 million Americans, has become a major issue in Washington where legislators have been flooded with calls from TikTok users who oppose the legislation.

Biden's many legislators and administrations say TikTok poses a national security risk as China could force TikTok to share user data in the US, while TikTok insists that they never and will never share US data.

TikTok says it has spent more than $1.5 billion to protect US data and store it in the United States.

TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew, who met with legislators last week, said the bill, if passed into law, "would lead to a ban on TikTok in the United States."

The briefing is expected to involve the FBI, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, and the Department of Justice and will discuss the national security threats posed by the exploitation of US citizen data by foreign enemies, including by TikTok, and related legislation, the aide said.

The board voted 352-65 over TikTok's draft surveillance law, just eight days after the proposal was submitted. There is broad support in the Senate to take action to address national security threats from foreign apps like TikTok but no agreement on an appropriate approach.

Cantwell said in an interview last week that he wanted legislation to address widespread concerns about foreign apps going to stay in court.

"We'll probably have a better picture in a week of what we think about options," Cantwell was quoted as saying by VOI from Reuters. "Of course, we want to have the most powerful tools."

The Council's bill has received support from several key senators including Warner and Rubio who said they "hope to work together to obtain this bill approved by the Senate and signed into law."