US Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines told a House of Representatives intelligence committee on Tuesday that China might use the social media app TikTok to influence the 2024 US elections.
When asked if the Communist Party of China, which is in power, would use TikTok to sway the elections, Democratic Representative Raja Krishnamoorthi questioned Haines, and she responded, “We cannot rule out that the CCP would use it.”
Along with its Republican chair Mike Gallagher, Krishnamoorthi is the ranking Democrat on the House Select Committee on China. Last week, the committee introduced a bill that would give ByteDance, the Chinese company that owns TikTok, roughly six months to sell the short video app, which is used by 170 million Americans.
The U.S. House of Representatives is set to vote on Wednesday under fast-track rules that require two-thirds of members to vote “yes” for the measure to win passage.
President Joe Biden said last week he would sign the bill.
The 2024 Annual Threat Assessment of the U.S. Intelligence Community released on Monday said TikTok accounts run by a Chinese government propaganda arm reportedly targeted candidates from both political parties during the U.S. midterm election cycle in 2022.
TikTok, which says it has not and would not share U.S. user data with the Chinese government, argues the House bill amounts to a ban. It was unclear if China would approve any sale or if TikTok could be divested in six months.