Rep. Michael McCaul scoffs at Chinese trolling of his TikTok criticism
Juliegrace Brufke
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House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul (R-TX) dismissed criticism from Chinese state-run media after he praised Texas A&M’s decision to ban TikTok on its campus.
Chen Weihua, the EU bureau chief of China Daily, took aim at the Texas Republican on social media after McCaul tweeted a radio interview in which he cautioned against using the social media app and stated that it was likely that a “bill come out this Congress to ban TikTok nationwide,” arguing that “when you download, it is really a backdoor into your phone.”
“It’s used as a surveillance mechanism by the [Chinese Communist Party] … to access what you’re doing on your phone, the apps you use, your keystrokes, your web searches, things like that,” he said in the clip.
TIKTOK BANNED FROM STATE-ISSUED PHONES IN KANSAS
Chen rebutted McCaul’s remarks that TikTok is no different than other social media platforms — a claim that has been widely disputed by lawmakers and national security experts.
“If freedom and democracy is so powerful, why are you afraid of TikTok? Sad that Texas schools are turning McCarthyist. TikTok is not much different than Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Just more popular. No loser saboteur mindset, please,” Chen tweeted on Thursday.
McCaul stated that the pushback shows his criticisms are warranted.
“When you begin being trolled by Chinese state propagandists, you know you’re doing something right. It’s no secret that TikTok is beholden to the Chinese Communist Party, and I will not be silenced in calling out the app for its malign practices,” he said in a statement on Friday.
McCaul noted in his interview with WTAW that while the app is popular, the United States should push for the use of platforms that are not compromised by the CCP.
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“I’ve got five kids, three that are at A&M, you know, the young kids. They like TikTok, but we need an American version of this and not one that’s compromised by the Chinese Communist Party,” he said.