During an interview with Bloomberg on Thursday, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo opposed a ban on TikTok and argued that the issues that make the app a problem, like the app being Chinese-owned and its issues around privacy and misinformation, “aren’t just limited to TikTok.”
Bloomberg Washington Bureau Chief Peggy Collins asked, [relevant exchange begins around 5:35] “[Y]ou say you don’t think a law banning a single company is the way to go to deal with an issue like a company like that. So, if not a ban, what would you do, what’s your plan?”
Raimondo responded, “So, I think the issues that make TikTok problematic — although TikTok is perhaps the biggest of these companies — aren’t just limited to TikTok. So, if what we’re worried about is Chinese-backed companies being on tens of millions of American phones — including members of the military — and privacy concerns, data concerns, misinformation concerns, that doesn’t just apply to TikTok. So, I think — I know many members of the Senate, Sen. Warner (D-VA), Sen. Rubio (R-FL) — there [are] a number of members of the U.S. Senate who are thinking hard about what’s the right way to protect American national security, American privacy, American data, and we’re working with them.”
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