To watch Senator Capito’s interview, click here or on the image above.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – This morning, U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), Vice Chairman of the Senate Republican Conference and a member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, joined CNBC’s “Squawk Box” to discuss TikTok and the national security threat it poses. During the interview, Senator Capito also expressed her support for the divestment of TikTok from ByteDance, its current owners who are subject to the will of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
HIGHLIGHTS:
ON THE NATIONAL SECURITY THREAT POSED BY TIKOK: “Well, I think it's obvious that the structure of TikTok is constructed, with ByteDance being the owner, to comply with the Chinese intelligence laws. That means that you are required as a company to share your data with the CCP, and I think in this case of TikTok, it’s so widely used. I think it would create— it has created a great vulnerability not just for our young people, but for everybody. And so, all we're asking in this bill is that the ownership change and become domestic and TikTok can, you know, move forward with the good things that TikTok does. And so, I am very concerned about the effect- that long-term effect, but also the short-term effect and what data is already in the hands of the Chinese Communist Party.”
ON IF THE BIPARTISAN TIKTOK DIVESTMENT BILL WILL PASS THE SENATE: “You know, I don't understand why [Senator] Schumer is not taking it up. I thought Leader McConnell was very forceful on it. It was an overwhelming vote in the House and so I expect it to come before the floor, and I expect it to pass, and the president says he would sign it.”
ON HOW REAL THE THREAT IS TO AMERICANS: “Well, I think because of the ownership structure, and the competition, and the will of the Chinese government itself to become the most powerful economy in the world, causing, I think, a great threat to us, as Americans,absolutely the threat is there. I think, also, when I talk about this publicly, I got a lot of parents who are concerned about the direction that TikTok is taking their children, and I can tell you in my own personal Senate office: hundreds of calls from 11-year-olds, 12-year-olds.They're being channeled by TikTok into their Senate office so [TikTok knows] where you live, because they're telling me- you know, they're calling my office and they live in my state, and they're saying, you know, ‘please don't ban TikTok.’
ON IF THE CCP IS CURRENTLY HARVESTING AMERICANS’ DATA IN A WAY THAT THREATENS THE U.S.: “Well, I think we've seen reports that [CCP data harvesting of Americans is] moving forward, but I'm not naive enough to think that that's not what they're doing. I mean, I think we have to guard against the possible and I think that is not just a small possibility, but it's a large possibility. Look, we have an election coming up. We have all these geopolitical things that are going on that I'm sure the Chinese would try to sway the American thought process in a lot of these things. And if they have our data, which I am certain that they do, and you know, let's see. Let's just get real here: data never dies. They had it before, before they separated and created this Texas company, they probably have ways to have it now. I don't think you can believe what they say. And so, I'm in the category of a very skeptical person who believes that China has goals in mind that would fit very nicely with capturing as much data here in this country as they possibly could, however they would do it.”
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