WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND) joined a letter led by Senator Tom Cotton (R-AR) to Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director Christopher Wray, and Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Chad Wolf expressing concern over the Chinese social-media service TikTok.

Specifically, the Senators write that TikTok could enable the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to engage in influence operations against the United States, including operations designed to interfere with our elections.

The Senators request answers to the following questions regarding TikTok:

  1. Do you believe ByteDance’s ownership of TikTok gives the CCP an opportunity to conduct influence operations within the United States, including campaigns directed at changing the outcome of elections?
  2. Given the CCP’s control over ByteDance, is it possible Chinese officials could direct TikTok’s employees to amplify or suppress certain political content for U.S. users?
  3. Could the CCP direct networks of bots to create or boost its preferred political content on TikTok and other social-media platforms?
  4. If evidence emerges of CCP electoral interference via TikTok, would ByteDance be eligible for sanctions under President Trump’s September 12, 2018, executive order on foreign electoral influence? 
  5. What other Chinese social-media applications and technology corporations present vectors for election interference in the United States?

Click here for text of the letter.