Republican Senators Tom Cotton of Arkansas and Pete Ricketts of Nebraska spoke out against President-elect Donald Trump‘s TikTok “extension” plan on Sunday.
Newsweek reached out to Trump’s transition team, Cotton’s office and TikTok via email, and Ricketts’ office via online form for comment on Sunday.
Why It Matters
TikTok’s fate has emerged as a significant geopolitical and cultural issue after Congress passed a law last year signed by President Joe Biden requiring TikTok’s China-based parent company, ByteDance, to divest the platform by January 19. Lawmakers supporting the app’s sale or ban have cited national security concerns, pointing to ByteDance’s ties to the Chinese government and the app’s data collection practices.
Defenders of TikTok, meanwhile, don’t believe in a national security threat posed by China with the use of the social media platform. They rather believe that the bipartisan legislation that led to the app going dark on Saturday night is an infringement …