Kelly says he is aware TikTok ban 'is controversial,' but there is 'national security risk to' app
Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) said Sunday he is aware that the possible TikTok ban “is controversial,” yet the app “has a national security risk to it.”
“I imagine [there's going to] be a disruption in the service here, you know, starting on the 19th,” Kelly told CBS News’s Margaret Brennan on “Face the Nation.”
“I know this is controversial. I know there are folks out there that earn a living, you know, on TikTok, but it has a national security risk to it,” he added.
A law that passed Congress with expansive bipartisan support and was signed by President Biden last April requires TikTok to face a ban in the U.S. starting on Jan. 19 unless it divests from ByteDance, its Chinese-based parent company.
TikTok is currently fighting at the Supreme Court to save the platform in the U.S., but it has received a cold response from the nation’s highest court. The social platform has said that divestment is practically impossible.
A former solicitor general representing TikTok, Noel Francisco, previously told the Supreme Court that the app would in effect “go dark” and that the ban clashes “with the First Amendment.”
“Suppose that China used its leverage over Jeff Bezos, his international empire, including his Chinese businesses, to force ... The Washington Post to write whatever China wanted on the front page of the Post,” Francisco said.
“Surely the government couldn’t come in and say, 'Jeff Bezos, you need to either sell The Washington Post or shut it down,'" he continued.
During his “Face the Nation” appearance, Kelly said that when it comes to TikTok, he is worried about “their ability to manipulate ... the population of the United States, especially in time of a conflict.”
“So, it was the right decision. I voted for it. And it looks like the Supreme Court is gonna uphold the legislation that we passed,” he added.
The Hill has reached out to TikTok for comment.