A group of 18 Republican lawmakers have asked US President Joe Biden to delete his TikTok account, citing national security concerns.
In their letter, which has been seen by Reuters, the parliamentarians point out that the Biden “ignores the recognized security risks posed by TikTok. How can the federal government warn Americans about the dangers of the app when the head of state is using it?”
The Democrat’s campaign recently created a TikTok account, where he first uploaded videos on February 11, aiming to appeal to younger voters. That first video has 9.6 million views so far, while Biden’s account has 162,000 followers.
Among the lawmakers signing the letter are Senators Marco Rubio, John Barrasso, Marsha Blackburn, Rick Scott and Josh Hawley. They are asking Biden to “delete your account and publicly acknowledge the national security threat that TikTok poses.”
The White House and TikTok have not responded to requests for comment on the letter, while Biden’s campaign team declined to comment.
Last week, Democratic Sen. Mark Warner expressed concern about the national security implications of the Biden campaign’s decision to create an account on the app.
“I think we have to find a way to follow India, which has banned TikTok,” Warner, who chairs the Senate Intelligence Committee, had said.
“I’m a little concerned about the mixed messages,” Republican presidential nominee Nikki Haley said on Sunday, reiterating her call for TikTok to be banned in USA. “We should have banned it in the first place. It is extremely dangerous,” he stressed.
TikTok, which is owned by Chinese company ByteDance, has been accused by many American politicians of being a propaganda tool of the Chinese government, which the company strongly denies.
According to protothema, efforts in Congress to ban the app or create new tools to limit it have so far been unsuccessful, while some lawmakers want the Commerce Department to include ByteDance in the list of companies whose exports are controlled.
In January, a TikTok executive told Congress that 170 million Americans use the app, up from 150 million a year earlier.
The White House indicated last week that a measure that prohibits federal employees from downloading the app to government devices remains in place.
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