On Monday’s broadcast of Newsmax TV’s “The Record,” Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said that she told TikTok’s CEO, “it’s all okay, as long as you end up with Americans owning you. If American companies and people own you, then all is forgiven” at the Inauguration. And said that China uses the app “to study us and our behaviors, and China will use it to manipulate our beliefs and our systems. So, we need to be well-educated on how they use that tool again.”
Noem said, “You know what’s funny is that, at the Inauguration, the CEO of TikTok came up to me and he introduced himself and I said, oh my goodness, you probably don’t like me very much. I was the first one to ban you, and then many states did and then the federal government did. And he said, yes, that’s why I wanted to meet you. And I said, well, it’s all okay, as long as you end up with Americans owning you. If American companies and people own you, then all is forgiven.”
She added, “It’s a big communications tool, but I will tell you that they do use it to study us and our behaviors, and China will use it to manipulate our beliefs and our systems. So, we need to be well-educated on how they use that tool again.”
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