TikTok Is "Digital Fentanyl", Says US Congressman, Gives Reasons

A Congressman in the United States has said that video-sharing platform TikTok is "digital fentanyl" as he welcomed the ban on the Chinese app on government devices. Mike Gallagher, US Representative for Wisconsin, also congratulated his colleagues in the Senate for passing the legislation to ban the social media platform. The 'No TikTok on Government Devices Bill' was authored by fellow Republican Senator Josh Hawley and was passed unanimously by the Senate. Weeks later, TikTok was also banned from all US House of Representatives-managed devices.

Speaking to the host on NBC's 'Meet The Press' on Sunday, the Congressman said, "I think the comparison is apt for at least two reasons. One, it's highly addictive and destructive, and we're seeing troubling data about the corrosive impact of constant social media use particularly on young men and women here in America."

"It's also digital fentanyl in the sense that as you allude to, it ultimately goes back to the Chinese Communist Party. TikTok is owned by ByteDance. ByteDance is effectively controlled by the CCP. So, we have to ask whether we want the CCP to control what is on the cusp of becoming the most powerful media company in America," Mr Gallagher added.

A number of American politicians - both Republicans and Democrats - have been raising concerns and calling for ban on TikTok. President Joe Biden on Thursday signed into law a ban on using the app on federal government devices as part of the $1.66 trillion omnibus spending bill passed last week.

The US House of Representative's Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) said in a message sent to all lawmakers and staff on Tuesday that the app is considered "high risk due to a number of security issues", and said it must be deleted from all devices managed by the House.

Nineteen US states have so far partially blocked the app from state-managed devices over concerns that the Chinese government could use the app to track Americans and censor content.

Chinese company ByteDance, which owns TikTok, admitted a few weeks ago that its employees improperly accessed data from social media platform TikTok to track journalists in a bid to identify the source of leaks to the media.