Sens. Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Mark Warner (D-VA) raised concerns about how TikTok’s algorithm can influence the American public if controlled by the wrong people.
Warner and Rubio appeared together for an interview with Face the Nation that aired Sunday as the chair and vice chair, respectively, of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. Recent conversations surrounding a pending bill in the House that would prevent app stores from hosting TikTok prompted the senators to comment on the platform.
“If you don’t think the Chinese Communist Party can twist that algorithm to make it the news that they see reflective of their views, then I don’t think you appreciate the nature of the threat,” Warner said. “Would the United States ever allow China to buy CBS? I don’t think I would.”
Warner also expressed his disappointment in the Biden campaign for utilizing TikTok, calling it “mixed messaging.” The Democratic senator claimed to have the president’s support for future legislation that would lead to a ban against the platform.
“[TikTok’s] value is that it has an algorithm, a recommender engine, which is one of the best in the world. That is owned by ByteDance. Under Chinese law, ByteDance must own it. The only way that works is if they have access to the data,” Rubio explained. “What we have to focus on is who owns the algorithm. Whoever owns the algorithm will have access to the data.”
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ByteDance is the name of the Beijing-headquartered company that owns TikTok. The pending House bill would pressure ByteDance to sell TikTok so that the social media platform can be owned by someone else.
Rubio was careful not to all-out endorse the bill that passed unanimously out of the House Energy and Commerce Committee. Former President Donald Trump has notably voiced his disagreement with the legislation, splitting Republican lawmakers’ opinions on the matter.
