'TikTok Threat Theory' Still Alive?… FCC Commissioner Demands TikTok Removal from Google and Apple App Stores

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeong Hyunjin] A member of the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has called for the removal of the video-sharing application TikTok from Apple and Google's app stores. This is the same argument as the 'TikTok ban theory' promoted during the Trump administration.

On the 29th (local time), according to Bloomberg News and others, FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr sent a letter to Apple and Google demanding the removal of TikTok, citing concerns that user information collected by TikTok could be leaked to the Chinese government. Commissioner Carr is a Republican appointee among the five-member FCC.

Previously, former President Donald Trump signed an executive order in 2020 banning TikTok downloads within the U.S. from the Apple App Store and Google Play. At that time, the Trump administration raised the possibility that TikTok could hand over users' network, location, and internet search data to the Chinese Communist Party. President Joe Biden instructed the Department of Commerce last year to analyze TikTok.

TikTok has stated that it will never hand over American users' data to the Chinese government. Rick Sorefild, a partner at Vinson & Elkins who previously worked at the U.S. Department of Justice, said, "TikTok is trying to stand on the right side of the U.S. government," adding, "The government is still trying to figure out what to do."

Commissioner Carr's demand is expected to gain little traction. Since the Biden administration took office, the FCC chairperson has been a Democrat, and Apple and Google's app stores are not under the FCC's jurisdiction.

Neither the FCC nor TikTok has issued any statements regarding Commissioner Carr's letter.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.