Republican Rep. Mike Gallagher: Chinese-Owned TikTok Is ‘Digital Fentanyl’ Poisoning Youth

Republican Wisconsin Congressman Mike Gallagher compared TikTok to “digital fentanyl” amid efforts to ban the app in the U.S.

Appearing on NBC’s “Meet the Press” Sunday, Gallagher blasted the Chinese-owned social media platform for the negative effects it has on children and teens in the country, and the copious amounts of data it collects. He called for Congress to ban the app nationwide.

“I think the comparison is apt for at least two reasons,” said Gallagher. “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,” Gallagher continued. “That is very troubling. And so, I was glad to see my colleagues in the Senate pass, in unanimous fashion, a ban of TikTok on government devices. I think we should do the same in the House and expand that ban nationally.”

Gallagher then listed several safety concerns he had about TikTok – namely that the Chinese government could easily use the technology to access and save sensitive data about American citizens. He also worried that the Chinese could also use the app to filter the information that was getting through to Americans who were using it, arguing that especially if their exposure to other news sources was limited, they might not be getting necessary information…. (Excerpt from The Daily Wire)