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TikTok has been likened to the addictive drug fentanyl by a US politician, due to its ‘corrosive impact’ on young Americans.
Mike Gallagher, incoming US chairman of a new House select committee on China, described TikTok as ‘digital fentanyl’ in reference to the addictive opioid painkiller.
Gallagher, who wants TikTok banned in the US, said the app is ‘highly addictive and destructive’ and that it ‘effectively goes back to the Chinese Communist Party’.
There are concerns among US politicians that the Chinese government could use the app to track Americans, censor content and promote Chinese narratives.
TikTok, which is owned by Beijing-based company ByteDance, has already been banned from all devices owned and managed by US House of Representatives (file photo)
Mike Gallagher, incoming US chairman of a new House select committee on China, was speaking to NBC about the controversial app
Gallagher was speaking during NBC’s ‘Meet The Press’ in an interview aired in the US on Sunday.
‘It’s highly addictive and destructive and we’re seeing troubling data about the corrosive impact of constant social media use, particularly on young men and women here in America,’ he said.
‘The government can’t raise your kids, can’t protect your kids for you, but there are certain sensible things we can do in order to create a healthier social media ecosystem.’
TikTok, which is owned by Beijing-based company ByteDance, has already been banned from all devices owned and managed by US House of Representatives.
But Gallagher wants to expand that ban nationally or risk the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) expanding their control over the media that US citizens see online.
It’s unclear whether ByteDance has shared data with Chinese government officials – and TikTok has previously said it hasn’t received any such requests.
However, Gallagher is concerned about the Chinese government ‘effectively compiling dossiers filled with our data’.
Gallagher also has an issue with ‘the lack of transparency’ around TikTok’s algorithm, which he said is ‘addicting kids’.
The algorithm promotes videos to users on the For You page from people they don’t even follow, but this has proved controversial for dictating what users see.
Fentanyl is addictive because of its potency. A person taking prescription fentanyl as instructed by a doctor can experience dependence, which is characterized by withdrawal symptoms when the drug is stopped (file photo)
‘We have to ask whether we want the CCP to control what’s on the cusp of becoming the most powerful media company in America,’ Gallagher told NBC.
‘What if they start censoring the news, right? What if they start tweaking the algorithm to determine what the CCP deems fit to print.’
‘I’m concerned about TikTok’s ability to track your location, track your keystrokes, track what websites you’re visiting – even when you’re not using the app.’
A recent report from the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) also said TikTok’s For You page lacks ‘meaningful transparency’ and its algorithm operates ‘in an opaque manner’.
TikTok allows users as young as 13 to create an account by asking for a date of birth, although it doesn’t stop kids below this age from using it.
TikTok was banned from all devices owned and managed by US House of Representatives only last week.
The ban is part of the $1.7 trillion Omnibus Spending Bill, which was signed into law by US President Joe Biden on December 29.
Lawmakers and their staff received an email mandating they delete the app because it is considered ‘high risk due to a number of security issues.’
TikTok is now banned from all devices owned and managed by US House of Representatives – part of the $1.7 trillion Omnibus Spending Bill, which was signed into law by US President Joe Biden on December 29 (pictured)
The memo, obtained by Reuters, tells House staff that they are ‘not allowed to download the TikTok app on any House mobile devices.
‘If you have the TikTok app on your House mobile device, you will be contacted to remove it,’ it said.
MailOnline has contacted TikTok for comment.
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