House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Turner (R-OH) argued that communist China is utilizing TikTok to infiltrate U.S. data systems amidst increasing calls for the federal government to ban the social media app.
Turner’s comments came as he spoke with Martha Raddatz on ABC News’ “This Week” when he was pressed to detail how his stance on China differs from that of Joe Biden.
“I think what we heard clearly from the intelligence community is the emergence of China as a threat, both militarily and through espionage … through technology, quantum technology, computing, also certainly the ability for them to insert themselves through TikTok into our data systems,” he said. “We worked really hard to get them out of our telecommunication systems with – by getting rid of Huawei systems in our telecommunication, and then we’re handing over our phone systems by people downloading a TikTok app, which has no division between, you know, the Chinese company, the Chinese government and the Chinese Communist Party.”
“So I think that — the difference I think is that the Biden administration appears to be much too timid,” continued the Ohio representative. “They’ve been much timid in their approach to Russia, always having been pushed by Congress before they would fully support Ukraine. And I think even in China they’re afraid to provoke. And we believe, I think most, who have looked at the intelligence, that look at what’s happening with their military buildup, they’re tripling their side of their nuclear weapons pointed at the United States, they’re expanding their – their shipbuilding, they’re absolutely emerging as a military threat to the United States. I think we need to respond, and respond very strongly.”
GOP Rep. Mike Turner, chair of the House Intelligence Committee, tells @MarthaRaddatz that China is emerged as a threat “both militarily and through espionage.”
“Certainly the ability for them to insert themselves through TikTok into our data systems.” https://t.co/2jPydU5dKv pic.twitter.com/FfxckqbXkH
— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) March 12, 2023
Turner noted that approximately 100 million Americans spend an average of 90 minutes of their time on TikTok daily, adding that he believes it constitutes a national security threat. The congressman then highlighted the Biden administration’s decision to repeal a Trump-era ban on Tik Tok.
During the same appearance, Turner reiterated his belief that the COVID-19 virus emerged from China while noting that disgraced former longtime director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Dr. Anthony Fauci approved sending hundreds of thousands of dollars of U.S. taxpayer money for a Wuhan lab that studied if bat coronaviruses could be made transmissible to humans.
