A Senate Intelligence Committee Hearing on countering China’s “malign influence operations” in the United States revealed an “absolutely terrifying” and unprecedented scenario in which the communist Chinese government could use its “massive” data procured from the Chinese-owned app TikTok in a potential military conflict.
Speaking at Wednesday’s Senate Intelligence Hearing, Distinguished Research Fellow at Hoover Institute Dr. Glenn Tiffert faced questioning on countering China’s influence in the U.S. by Vice Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence Marco Rubio (R-FL), who highlighted the platform’s “destructive” videos, while calling attention to the more vital issue of data flow and its algorithm, which is designed to “collect massive amounts of data.”
In the event of a world conflict, Communist China will use TikTok's algorithm to manipulate and influence Americans. pic.twitter.com/9Nw6sCLUpP
— Senator Marco Rubio (@SenMarcoRubio) September 28, 2023
Asked about the value of having that amount of data in the hands of an enemy at a moment of “impending conflict,” Dr. Tiffert called the scenario “absolutely terrifying” and one that is constantly being considered.
“Because I think that it is possible and it’s conceivable that in the event of a conflict, an intense conflict, with China, they would deploy those algorithms in ways that would seek to undermine our resolve,” he stated. “Absolutely.”
He also noted that he was unaware of “any other comparable set of data” in the world.
“In particular, what is arresting is in the last several years, China’s adopt[ed] data security legislation that is designed to ingest all of the world’s data as much as it can and not leak any of it out,” he said.
The historian, who co-chairs the Hoover project on China’s Global Sharp Power, explained that China and its president, Xi Jinping, are “trying to create the largest repository of data in the world so that it is available for whatever purpose the CCP [Chinese Communist Party] would like to use it for.”
“We need to be alert to that,” he warned, adding that “it’s a one-way street.”
The matter comes as TikTok, a ByteDance-owned platform, continues to come under scrutiny by various governments over fears that Beijing might exploit it for user data or its agendas.
RELATED: TikTok CEO Does Not Deny Bytedance Has Access to Americans’ Data
House Committee on Energy and CommerceThe U.S., UK, and New Zealand have prohibited the app on official devices, even though TikTok asserts it has not and would not share data with China’s government.
In 2020, then-President Donald Trump tried to outright ban new downloads of the Chinese app, but a series of court decisions blocked the rule from going into effect.
Since then, many have changed their stance, with Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA) eventually admitting, “As painful as it is for me to say, if Donald Trump was right and we could’ve taken action then, that’d have been a heck of a lot easier than trying to take action [now].”
TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, has also been caught snooping on U.S. and UK journalists in multiple instances. The Chinese app has even shown itself to pose an outright danger to kids and teens and has become a national security threat that has meddled in U.S. elections.
RELATED: Rep. Bob Latta Slams CEO of China’s TikTok over Dangerous Trends Killing American Children
House Committee on Energy and Commerce / YouTubeAs Breitbart News reported, a recent Reuters/Ipsos poll revealed that nearly half of American adults support a ban on TikTok.
Joshua Klein is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at
