TikTok is China's 'digital fentanyl,' FCC commissioner says

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TikTok is ‘China’s digital fentanyl’: Brendan Carr

FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr unpacks lawmakers’ push to ban TikTok as concerns over national security and China’s involvement grow. 

The top Republican member on the Federal Communications Commission warned Chinese-owned app TikTok is the CCP's digital version of fentanyl.

FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr dismissed claims the app within the United States is insulated from spying and national security implications by its Chinese parent.

"At the end of the day, TikTok is China's digital fentanyl. A lot of people look at TikTok and think it's just a fun application for sharing dance videos or other funny videos. But that's just the sheep's clothing underneath of it – It operates as a very sophisticated surveillance app, and it's not the videos, but it's pulling everything from search and browsing history, potentially keystroke patterns, biometrics, including face prints, invoice prints," Carr said. 

"And up to now, we've been told by TikTok officials, don't worry, all this is stored in the U.S. or stored outside of China. But this summer, there was a blockbuster story that said internal communications from Tik showed that everything is seen back in China."

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TikTok is among the most frequently downloaded social media apps worldwide, as well as in the United States — specifically among young users.  (CFOTO/Future Publishing via Getty Images)

The report represents a risk in terms of espionage and other malign activity from the U.S.' chief rival and a country that purportedly seeks to replace America as the nation's lead economy.

Carr said there have also been several reports of Chinese TikTok parent company Byte Dance attempting to surveil specific U.S. citizens through the app.

Some of TikTok's content is curated to certain groups of people, Carr suggested, pointing to videos of the infamous "blackout challenge" targeted toward youth.

"This was alleged in a court case, and [a 10-year-old] girl ended up strangling herself to death. So we're seeing very different content."

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China's President Xi Jinping addresses the press next to Argentina's President Mauricio Macri (not in frame) after a working meeting at the Olivos Presidential residence in Olivos, Buenos Aires on December 2, 2018.  (JUAN MABROMATA/AFP via Getty Images)

The Biden administration is reportedly taking an investigatory but cautious tack toward restricting the app, according to Carr, who said the Treasury via the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) has been working to find a way for TikTok to operate domestically while remaining consistent with national security concerns.

That itself shows a lack of trust in the app, he said, pointing to lawmakers who have purportedly told him they post TikTok videos from burner phones and from devices located outside of their federal offices.

"This is a basic IQ test for the administration, I don't see a path forward technically where we can assure ourselves that the data isn't going to flow back to China and similarly that they're not going to use the algorithm for foreign influence campaigns here," he said.

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Concerns are bipartisan in this regard, as Carr cited Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Mark R. Warner, a Virginia Democrat, and vice chairman Marco Rubio, a Florida Republican, agreeing on much in that regard.

Rubio, R-Fla., and Rep. Mike Gallagher, R-Wisc., said Thursday that they will introduce legislation to effectively ban TikTok in the United States, citing concerns that the social media app's popularity in the United States could give the Chinese Communist Party the ability to "subtly indoctrinate American citizens" and collect info on users. 

"TikTok is a major threat to U.S. national security," the lawmakers wrote in the Washington Post. 

"Unless TikTok and its algorithm can be separated from Beijing, the app’s use in the United States will continue to jeopardize our country’s safety and pave the way for a Chinese-influenced tech landscape here."

Fox Business' Paul Best contributed to this report.