WASHINGTON - A famous North Carolina lawmaker said Wednesday he is opposed to an outright ban and recognizes real security concerns tied to the Chinese-owned video app.
The Democratic Rep. Jeff Jackson, who has 1.2 million followers on TikTok, said in an interview that he attributes some of his public recognition to the popular app, which has helped him reach constituents of varying ages.
It just happens that you get a lot more views on TikTok than you do on Instagram or Facebook. Jackson, 40, told NBC News he was as many as 10 times as many. I have been able to reach a lot of people, and at the same time I think the security concerns are real. FBI Director Christopher Wray warned in November that the app owned by Beijing-based ByteDance Ltd. poses national security risks, and that China's government could use it to influence U.S. users or control their devices.
Jackson said that he didn't think he was hyperbolic, as a result of Wray's assessment.
Jackson said that data privacy and concerns about the app's algorithm highlighted by Wray are going to be very hard to resolve as long as this remains a Chinese-owned company. TikTok's chief executive, Shou Zi Chew, is expected to give testimony for the first time to Congress in a hearing Thursday before the House Energy and Commerce Committee. His appearance comes amid a bipartisan push to address security concerns surrounding the app, but also as TikTok's supporters voice their opposition to a potential ban.
Jackson said he thinks a ban is not the best case, based on millions of U.S. users. TikTok is too big to be banned, and he thinks it's a case to make about how many Americans are using this. He argued that a change in ownership was necessary at this point. A TikTok spokeswoman last week said that if protecting national security is the goal, divestment doesn't solve the problem: A change in ownership wouldn't impose any new restrictions on data flows or access. A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman said last week that the U.S. did not provide any evidence that TikTok poses a threat to its national security.
Jackson said he has taken steps to ensure data protection, including keeping a burner phone whose sole application is TikTok, as a result of his own use of the app. He said that he doesn't have the app on his government-issued or personal phones. TikTok is not allowed on house-issued mobile devices.
It is worth it to have a dedicated phone and to have it be a bit of a headache sometimes because there are a lot of people I can reach, Jackson said.
A measure that banning TikTok on government devices was included in a $1.7 trillion spending bill that President Joe Biden signed into law late last year.
The app has helped Jackson reach a wide audience, including users from a senior living facility in his district, since his TikTok base is outpaced by Sen. Bernie Sanders' 1.4 million.
The first-term lawmaker said that people appreciate that I am on TikTok. I get recognized more in public because of TikTok, frankly, than any other app. People mentioned to me more than other places, and that's why I mentioned that I've seen me on TikTok.