Senators Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat, and Republican Marsha
Blackburn said in a letter to TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew that the
hirings further call "into question the independence of TikTok's
operations and the security of its U.S. users' information."
"The personnel changes give the impression that TikTok is
attempting to preserve ByteDance's influence over TikTok while
avoiding suspicion," the senators wrote, asking for a detailed
account of security protocols being imposed on ByteDance
employees who transfer to the U.S. from China.
TikTok said it welcomed the chance to provide senators facts
about its hiring practices. "In a large, global organization, it
is not uncommon for employees to work on different products or
geographies over the course of their career," a spokesperson
said.
TikTok is used by more than 150 million Americans and has faced
calls from U.S. lawmakers for a nationwide ban over concerns
about possible Chinese government influence.
Efforts to give the Biden administration new powers to ban
TikTok have stalled in Congress. Senator Maria Cantwell has been
working with the White House and other lawmakers on a revised
bill to address concerns about TikTok and other foreign-owned
apps.
Republican Senator Josh Hawley, who sought unanimously consent
to win approval for legislation to ban TikTok in May, plans to
force a vote on the issue later this year.
"We need to come back to it and we need to ban it," he told
Reuters last month. "(TikTok) has hired lobbyists by the
bazillion, they are in the halls constantly and they have been
able to stop progress."
Then-President Donald Trump in 2020 sought to bar new downloads
of TikTok and another Chinese-owned app, WeChat, a unit of
Tencent, but a series of court decisions blocked bans from
taking effect.
TikTok is fighting a ban by the state of Montana set to take
effect on Jan. 1. A judge has scheduled an Oct. 12 hearing on
TikTok's lawsuit.
(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Jonathan Oatis, Mark
Porter, Alexandra Hudson)
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