TikTok is under fire once again as a Federal Communications Commissioner is asking Apple and Google to remove the social media platform from their app stores.
The call comes as concerns around user data being accessed in China continue to grow on the social media platform that has begun to rival other giants in the industry.
Brendan Carr, the FCC Commissioner, shared on Twitter a letter the commission sent to Apple CEO Tim Cook and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai requesting TikTok's removal.
In the letter, concerns around the platform's Chinese ownerships were raised, saying it "harvests swaths of sensitive data that new reports show are being accessed in Beijing."
The FCC does not regulate app stores, so it can only ask Google and Apple to remove the app, leaving the decision up to both companies.
Carr referenced a recent report from BuzzFeed in his letter that revealed ByteDance employees were accessing private information on different U.S. users, even though the parent company for TikTok says it has assurances in place to stop such actions.
The commissioner also called TikTok a mass surveillance tool that is pretending to be a platform just for funny videos.
"It is clear that TikTok poses an unacceptable national security risk due to its extensive data being combined with Beijing's apparently unchecked access to that data," Carr wrote. "But it is clear that TikTok's pattern of conduct and misrepresentations regarding the unfettered access that persons in Beijing have to sensitive U.S. user data … puts it out of compliance with policies that both of your companies require every app to adhere to as a condition of remaining available on your app stores."
The request from Carr has garnered a response from the platform. TikTok spokesperson Brooke Oberwetter shared a statement from TikTok, but it did not address Carr's letter.
The statement instead said the company is "gladly" willing to "engage with lawmakers to set the record straight" on the report from BuzzFeed.
"Recent reporting by BuzzFeed shows that TikTok is doing exactly what it said it would: addressing concerns around access to U.S. user data by employees outside the U.S. We've been clear and vocal about our work in this area as we seek to address both location and access to data," Oberwetter wrote in an emailed statement, The Washington Post acquired.
When it comes to whether or not Apple or Google will remove the app from their stores, neither company has shared its intentions or responded to a request for comment from numerous media outlets.
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