Some senators want to declassify the TikTok briefings
When Social Media Meets Facebook: What Do House and Senate Committees Should “Discover” about TikTok’s Privacy Issues?
If six months isn’t enough to make a transition, the Senate can change the legislation to give a longer time frame.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., sidestepped answering when the bill would move in the Senate, telling reporters, “I’m talking to the members of my caucus to decide the best path forward.”
It’s hard to evaluate whether TikTok is doing things that every other tech platform does, or if there is evidence of misuse of user data. After Apple’s privacy updates in2022 Meta’s ad business took a $10 billion hit. Reports have discovered everything from addiction treatment companies to kids education websites that track users, sometimes using intrusive tracking that monitors clicks, clicks and more. A bunch of apps will ask for access to cameras and microphones to take pictures, record audio and record videos.
Academic studies regarding TikTok’s use of the algorithm to highlight political views are correct, said Cotton. Cotton pointed to what he described as a “clear skew in pro-Hamas propaganda on TikTok versus other social media apps” and added, “You don’t need an academic study to use common sense.”
The Senate Commerce Committee has primary jurisdiction over the issue and its head, Sen. Maria Cantwell, told reporters she wanted a public hearing, a move that could delay action in the Senate.
Warner noted that after the House was briefed about national security concerns a key committee unanimously approved a bill. The House approved the measure by a large margin. Warner feels there’s a need for more senators to process information and that the senators aren’t likely to act as swiftly as the House counterparts.
He pointed out the link between the explosion of use of multiple social media platforms and the rise in teen suicides. The media’s coverage of the debate over TikTok was allowing a single company to dominate the discussion and this is not something that will change in the future. Markey said he has sponsored broader bills with new guardrails around all social media companies, and he told reporters at the Capitol, “I need them to move.”
One of the reasons why the Senate Intelligence Committee’s top Republican was against it was because of a Chinese law that says that any technology under Chinese control is required to do what Beijing tells it to do.
Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal and Republican Senator Marsha Blackburn are calling for TikTok briefings to be declassified so the government can “better educate the public on the need for urgent action.” The Chinese company that owns the TikTok app is facing national security concerns, which have led to support for a forced sale of the app.
Warner said that “we have a lot of personal data, access to a lot of data, and potential to alter content on a platform that a lot of young people look to as their No. 1 news source.”
Sen. Mark Warner: Stop Selling TikTok or Shut Down the U.S. Now that’s a Pedestrian’s Choice
Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, endorsed the House bill and told reporters he backed declassifying some of the analysis communicated in the briefing, which he organized for his colleagues to discuss the impact of the video-sharing app.
Many senators emerging from the session argued it was time to take up House-passed legislation that would force the Chinese owner of TikTok to divest or face a ban in the United States. The Senate may take weeks, if not months, to act, and the chamber may put its own stamp on a bill.
The public should be given access to some of the sensitive information that the U.S. intelligence agencies gave to them at a closed-door intelligence meeting Wednesday about the influence and reach of TikTok.
