The US wants Apple and Google to remove TikTok.
A head of the U.S. Federal Communications Commission said he has asked Apple and Google to remove TikTok from their app stores for China-related data security concerns.
The hugely popular short video app is owned by Chinese company ByteDance, which faced U.S. control under President Donald Trump.
Brendan Carr, one of the FCC commissioners, shared via Twitter a letter addressed to Apple CEO Tim Cook and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai. The letter showed reports and other developments that made TikTok inconsistent with the two companies’ app store policies.
“TikTok is not what it looks like on the surface. It’s not just an app to share funny videos or memes. “This is the clothing of the sheep,” he wrote in the letter. “At its core, TikTok functions as a sophisticated surveillance tool that collects large amounts of personal and sensitive data.”
Carr’s June 24 letter to the FCC said that if Apple and Alphabet did not remove TikTok from their app stores, they would have to file a statement by July 8.
Trump appointed Carr in 2018 for a five-year term with the FCC. The Senate confirmed in December that the chairwoman of the commission, Jessica Rosenworcel, would remain in office for another five-year term.