Robert Besser
21 Jun 2022, 02:27 GMT+10
WASHINGTON D.C.: Republican U.S. senators have sent a letter to TikTok Chief Executive Shou Zi Chew about reports from Russia that TikTok continues to post Russian state-approved media content about the Ukraine war, while barring videos from those opposing the war.
"Recent reports indicate TikTok has allowed Russian state media to flood the platform with dangerous pro-war propaganda. No company should find itself in the position of amplifying the Kremlin's lies, which fuel public support for Russia's war of choice in Ukraine," according to a letter, signed by U.S. Senators Steve Daines, John Cornyn, Roger Wicker, John Barrasso, James Lankford and Cynthia Lummis.
In the letter, the senators wrote that they were "deeply concerned" that TikTok "is enabling the spread of pro-war propaganda to the Russian public, which risks adding to an already devastating human toll for both Ukrainians and Russians."
TikTok said in a statement to Reuters that the company was looking forward to answering the senators' questions.
In March, media reports stated that TikTok, the Chinese-owned video app, said it would temporarily halt live-streaming and uploading of videos to its platform in Russia due to a new media law signed by President Vladimir Putin.
The senators have accused TikTok of failing "to equally enforce this
policy" and cited a news report that said it "appears TikTok belatedly closed this loophole on March 25."
The senators also said that "misleading, pro-regime content that flooded the service has not been taken down, creating an easily-accessible archive of pro-war propaganda."
TikTok, owned by Beijing-based internet technology company ByteDance, had earlier been the focus of U.S. lawmakers regarding the personal data it handles.
TikTok officials were the targets of tough questioning by U.S. congressmen at hearing last October.
TikTok has over 1 billion users globally, making it one of the world's top video platforms.
Get a daily dose of Indianapolis Post news through our daily email, its complimentary and keeps you fully up to date with world and business news as well.
Publish news of your business, community or sports group, personnel appointments, major event and more by submitting a news release to Indianapolis Post.
More InformationWASHINGTON D.C.: Due to the record high trade deficit and a resurgence in COVID-19 infections that curbed spending on services, ...
TAIPEI, Taiwan: The world's fourth largest chip designer by revenue, Taiwan's MediaTek, has told Reuters that it plans to create ...
NEW YORK, New York - U.S. stocks rebounded on Friday, a day after major across-the-board sell-offs."Consensus estimates for 2022 and ...
GENEVA, Switzerland: Swiss pharmaceutical group Novartis has said, as part of its previously announced restructuring program, that it could cut ...
SHANGHAI, China: Walt Disney Company reopened Shanghai Disneyland on 30th June, one month after the city lifted a two month ...
SYDNEY, NSW, Australia - Stocks in Asia skidded lower Friday with all the major indices recording solid losses."Capitulation is the ...
WASHINGTON D.C.: U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo has said that since the U.S. and its allies imposed sanctions on Moscow ...
Tokyo, Japan: On June 28, Japan baked under intense heat for a fourth successive day, with temperatures breaking nearly 150-year-old ...
ALBANY, New York: A New York state judge has struck down a recent law giving 800,000 non-citizen New York City ...
DUBAI, UAE: The Arab states have built significant amounts of solar and wind power installations, and are in line to ...
LONDON, England: A second referendum on Scottish independence is set to be held in October 2023. The Scottish government, led ...
LISBON, Portugal: Tuvalu Foreign Minister Simon Kofe walked out of the opening cermonies of this week's United Nations Ocean Conference ...