United States on alert for the “threat” TikTok may pose to its security

United States remains vigilant with Chinese app TikTok and is concerned about the implications of the social networking site for national security and for the health of young people, White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre said Tuesday. “We have concerns about the application,” she said at a press conference in which she affirmed that “the president will continue to take action.”

Jean-Pierre declined to answer the question of whether a national ban on the Chinese app, which is banned for use on all government electronic devices, is being considered. Just this Monday, a memo was issued to all government agencies and their private contractors giving them 30 days to remove the application from their devices.following the approval by Congress late last year of a law to this effect.

” China Is trying to collect private data from Americans in a way that may present risks. to national security. So yes, we have concerns about that and we’re going to continue to call on Congress to act,” Jean-Piere said of the app owned by Chinese tech giant ByteDance.

Biden has among his plans the passage of a bill that would. prevent big tech companies from collecting data on minors.those most vulnerable to the networks.

Jean-Pierre further stressed that his concern has a lot to do with the health of young people and highlighted a data from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) that. alerts that nearly 60% of adolescents felt persistently sad. or hopeless in 2021 and 30% seriously considered suicide.