FCC commissioner seeks removal of TikTok from app stores

Brendan Carr, one of the Federal Communications Commission's commissioners, has asked Apple and Google to remove TikTok from their app stores.

"TikTok is not what it appears to be on the surface. It is not just an app for sharing funny videos or meme. That's the sheep's clothing," Carr wrote in an open letter to the companies. "At its core, TikTok functions as a sophisticated surveillance tool that harvests extensive amounts of personal and sensitive data."

If the companies do not remove TikTok, Carr instructed them to provide statements to him by July 8 explaining "the basis for your company's conclusion that the surreptitious access of private and sensitive U.S. user data by persons located in Beijing, coupled with TikTok's pattern of misleading representations and conduct, does not run afoul of any of your app store policies."

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