Biden Didn’t Give China Access To TikTok User Data
The Claim
Biden will remove restrictions meant to prevent TikTok from sharing user data with the Chinese Communist Party.
News posted on
Emerging story
On February 10th, 2021, Twitter user @amuse tweeted, “Biden to remove restrictions preventing TikTok from sharing user data with the Chinese Communist Party as required under Chinese law.”
The tweet has received over 8k retweets. Users reacted by saying “Biden doesn’t work for Americas” and that “Biden and his associates have lots of ties to China.”
Misbar’s Analysis
Misbar’s investigation found this claim to be fake.
Multiple news sources, including Fox Business and NPR, have reported that Biden and his administration have not made any policy changes regarding TikTok, but rather they are determining their own response to the potential security risk posed by Chinese tech companies’ collection of data.
At the White House’s daily briefing on Wednesday, press secretary Jen Psaki denied that Biden had set any new policies regarding TikTok. “It’s not accurate to suggest that there is a new proactive step by the Biden White House,” Psaki said. “Broadly speaking, we are evaluating the risks to US data, including from TikTok, and will address them in a decisive and effective fashion.”
Back in August 2020, Trump had attempted to force the sale of TikTok, a Chinese-owned company, to an American company. Trump said if no deal could be reached, TikTok would be banned in the United States. The reasoning behind Trump’s decision was because of National Security concerns. However, US courts have repeatedly sided against Trump's TikTok ban, ruling that the effort appeared to be politically motivated and lacked a solid finding that the popular app posed a risk to Americans' national security. According to NPR, “U.S. user data is mostly stored by TikTok on servers in Virginia, with backup storage in Singapore. Company officials say Chinese authorities have never attempted to gain access to Americans' information.”
The claim that Biden is removing restrictions preventing TikTok from sharing user data with the Chinese Communist Party is not true. It seems that the Biden administration is looking into Trump’s previous decisions and deciding what the next move is regarding potential security risks posed by Chinese tech companies like TikTok.
