U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) expressed “great concern” that TikTok Inc., a social media video platform owned by Beijing-based ByteDance Ltd., covertly allows the Chinese government to collect data on American minors and she wants such actions to stop.
“It is crucial that Chinese-linked efforts to collect data from American children ends,” Sen. Blackburn wrote in a Nov. 5 letter sent to Alex Zhu, who heads the TikTok team. “TikTok is China’s best detective — surreptitiously collecting and sharing user data, tracking American tweens and teenagers, and manipulating children’s online purchases.”
Sen. Blackburn, chair of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee Tech Task Force, noted that “a disturbingly popular trend” has emerged in which American children are solicited by TikTok to buy and send emojis “in exchange for favors, such as live video chats and giving out personal phone numbers, without parental permission.”
According to her letter, TikTok’s policies also permit data sharing with any of ByteDance’s business partners, including advertising networks and outside service providers.
“Although TikTok has created a version of the app geared for children under 13, it still fails to protect them or older teenagers from data surveillance and predatory behavior,” wrote Sen. Blackburn.
Additionally, American parents are unaware of the extent to which their children are being exposed to TikTok’s data collection practices.
“TikTok’s age ratings, data collection policies, and safety practices fail to adequately warn parents and vulnerable young people of the material they will encounter,” Sen. Blackburn wrote, adding that the company also doesn’t disclose the age demographics of its user base “despite widespread calls for greater transparency.”
Sen. Blackburn requested that Zhu answer several questions to provide her with information on what TikTok is doing to protect children’s privacy on its platform and the steps the company has taken to safeguard minors from unauthorized data collection and deceptive marketing schemes.