U.S. FCC commissioner petitions Apple and Google to remove TikTok from their app stores

In an official letter written to Apple and Google, Brendan Carr who is a Commissioner at the Federal Communications Commission has highlighted how TikTok threatens data security concerns.

According to him, the wildly popular video app owned by Chinese company ByteDance, "is not just another video app. That’s the sheep’s clothing". In a viral Tweet, he adds that TikTok "harvests swaths of sensitive data that new reports show are being accessed in Beijing".

Brendan Carr addressed his letter to Apple CEO Tim Cook and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai. The letter pointed to reports and other developments that made TikTok non-compliant with the two companies’ app store policies.

“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,” he emphasized in the letter. “At its core, TikTok functions as a sophisticated surveillance tool that harvests extensive amounts of personal and sensitive data.”

TikTok is yet to respond to this development. However, Brendan's Tweet has since gone viral globally with so many opinions from social media users. His letter has gathered over 6000 retweets on Twitter with more than 1000 comments.

Brendan who doubles as a Lawyer has also been granted interviews to news channels to defend his letter. Watch some of his interviews below as he explains why TikTok is not safe.