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US FCC member asks Google, Apple to remove TikTok from app stores

WashingtonUpdated: Jun 30, 2022, 05:26 PM IST
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Photograph:(Reuters)

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The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) member has asked the companies to either remove TikTok from their app stores by July 8 or explain to him why they did not plan to do so

A Republican Party member of USA's Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has urged CEOs of Apple and Google to remove Chines-owned Tikto from their app stores. Brendan Carr, the FCC commissioner, has sent a letter to the CEOs on a FCC letterhead. The letter is dated June 24. Carr has said that video-sharing app TikTok has collected vast troves of sensitive data about US users which can be accessed by Bytedance staff in Beijing. ByteDance is TikTok's Chinese parent. On Tuesday (June 30) Carr tweeted details of the letter.

"TikTok is not just another video app. That's the sheep's clothing," Carr said on Twitter. "It harvests swaths of sensitive data that new reports show are being accessed in Beijing."

Carr asked the companies to either remove TikTok from their app stores by July 8 or explain to him why they did not plan to do so.

Carr's request is unusual given that the FCC does not have clear jurisdiction over the content of app stores. The FCC regulates the national security space usually through its authority to grant certain communications licenses to companies.

A Tiktok spokeswoman said the company's engineers in locations outside of the United States, including China, can be granted access to U.S. user data "on an as-needed basis" and under "strict controls."

Reuters reported that Google declined comment on Carr's letter and Apple did not immediately respond to request for comment.

TikTok has been under U.S. regulatory scrutiny over its collection of U.S. personal data. The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), which reviews deals by foreign acquirers for potential national security risks, ordered ByteDance in 2020 to divest TikTok because of fears that U.S. user data could be passed on to China's communist government.

(With inputs from agencies)