Rep. Mike Collins, R-Ga., said TikTok is Chinese propaganda and should be banned.
Collins' comments Friday on Newsmax's "Wake Up America" came a day after TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew testified before a House committee.
Chew testified before the House Energy and Commerce Committee and was grilled by Democrat and Republican lawmakers on whether the app's parent company, ByteDance, which has ties to the Chinese Communist Party, has been spying on the app's 150 million American users.
"I think it was very telling that he never really could answer the questions that were being posed to him," Collins said. "It's obvious we have a problem with TikTok. It's obvious that China is using it to spy on Americans — especially when you have Americans that are using TikTok at the pace of over an hour a day. … So it's a way for China not only to spy on us, and in my opinion, to also indoctrinate our people to their propaganda."
Collins added: "I think we can ban TikTok in America. And it should be. It's obvious it's propaganda."
Asked if he expects Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg to move forward with an indictment of former President Donald Trump, Collins said: "I'm not sure. We're focused on making sure we get this federal government off your back — small businesses, get them back in power, get parents back into empowerment over their kids' lives, and make sure China isn't spying on us or trying to indoctrinate our kids.
"We have a lot things going on right now. And, as a matter of fact, we broke a record yesterday with 41 hearings throughout the day. So we've been quite busy."
Jeffrey Rodack ✉
Jeffrey Rodack, who has nearly a half century in news as a senior editor and city editor for national and local publications, has covered politics for Newsmax for nearly seven years.
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