<p><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/elon-musk">Elon Musk</a> seemingly slammed <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/tiktok">TikTok</a> late this week, asking if the Chinese-owned social media company was ruining the world.</p>
<p>The remark from Musk comes after he announced back in April his intention to purchase <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/twitter">Twitter</a>  for $54.20 per share in a deal valued at $44 billion.</p>
<p>&#8220;Is TikTok destroying civilization?&#8221; Musk tweeted. &#8220;Some people think so.&#8221;</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Is TikTok destroying civilization? Some people think so.</p>
<p>&mdash; Elon Musk (@elonmusk) <a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1537962566638415872?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 18, 2022</a></p></blockquote>
<p>He followed that up saying, &#8220;Or perhaps social media in general.&#8221;</p>
<p>Musk&#8217;s tweet comes as a new report from <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/buzzfeed">BuzzFeed News</a> late this week alleged that China-based TikTok employees have been accessing sensitive U.S. user data despite the company previously indicating that the information would only be accessed from inside the U.S.</p>
<p>The fear that U.S. officials have is that U.S. user data could be accessed by ByteDance, the Chinese parent company of TikTok, because Chinese companies are subjected to the rule of the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/chinese-communist-party">Chinese Communist Party</a>.</p>
<p>“The risk is that the government could force ByteDance to collect and turn over information as a form of ‘data espionage,&#8217;” the report <a href="https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/emilybakerwhite/tiktok-tapes-us-user-data-china-bytedance-access">said</a>. “There is, however, another concern: that the soft power of the Chinese government could impact how ByteDance executives direct their American counterparts to adjust the levers of TikTok’s powerful ‘For You’ algorithm, which recommends videos to its more than 1 billion users. Sen. Ted Cruz, for instance, has called TikTok ‘a Trojan horse the Chinese Communist Party can use to influence what Americans see, hear, and ultimately think.&#8217;”</p>
<p>One TikTok official reportedly said at an internal company meeting that “everything is seen in China,” while a top TikTok official said at a separate meeting that a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/china">China</a>-based software engineer had “access to everything.”</p>
<p>BuzzFeed’s report said that the evidence that it reviewed showed that U.S. user data “was accessed far more frequently and recently than previously reported” and that the evidence “suggest[s] that the company may have misled lawmakers, its users, and the public by downplaying that data stored in the US could still be accessed by employees in China.”</p>
<p>A <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/enriquedans/2020/06/28/tiktok-beneath-its-fun-exterior-lies-a-sinisterpurpose/?sh=676eb2093b79">piece</a> published in Forbes a couple of years ago highlighted numerous problems with the Chinese-owned company.</p>
<p>&#8220;The US armed forces have forbidden personnel from using it and describes it as a threat to cybersecurity. Israeli cybersecurity company Check Point has investigated it and concludes it has backdoors and major vulnerabilities, as well as overall security issues. The US government is also investigating it. Meanwhile, Reddit CEO and co-founder Steve Huffman describes it as a &#8216;fundamentally parasitic app that is always listening&#8217; and warns against installing what he calls &#8216;spyware&#8217;. Several child advocacy groups say it poses a clear risk to children. Apple claims it has caught TikTok using clipboard capture mechanisms to spy on millions of users,&#8221; Forbes reported.</p>
<p>An op-ed published late last year by <span class="css-1baulvz">Matt Pottinger, who </span>served in the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/trump-administration">Trump administration</a> as the senior Asia adviser in the National Security Council and later as deputy national security adviser, and David Feith, who served as U.S. deputy assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, warned of China&#8217;s attempts to dominate the global battle for data.</p>
<p>&#8220;Through a latticework of recent laws and regulations, [Chinese President Xi Jinping] has been hard at work making the Chinese Communist Party the world’s most powerful data broker,&#8221; they <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/30/opinion/xi-jinping-china-us-data-war.html">wrote</a>, noting that Xi accomplishes this &#8220;By walling Chinese data off from the world, exerting new extraterritorial power over global data flows and putting foreign companies operating in China in a legal bind — all while absorbing other countries’ data by means licit and illicit.&#8221;</p>
<p>They highlighted a quote from Xi shortly after he became president of the country in 2013 that shows Xi&#8217;s desire to win the war for who has the upper hand in data.</p>
<p>&#8220;The vast ocean of data, just like oil resources during industrialization, contains immense productive power and opportunities,&#8221; Xi said. &#8220;Whoever controls big data technologies will control the resources for development and have the upper hand.&#8221;</p>

<script async src="https://www.instagram.com/embed.js"></script>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<script async src="https://www.tiktok.com/embed.js"></script><div data-widget-host="revcontent" data-pub-id="165152" data-widget-id="290588"></div><script src="https://delivery.revcontent.com/165152/290588/widget.js"></script>

Elon Musk Takes Major Swipe At TikTok

Elon Musk Provides Timeline Of When He’ll Be Done In Government

Feds Arrest Las Vegas Man For Allegedly Attacking Tesla Store With Molotov Cocktails, Rifle

Trump Stages ‘Unprecedented Concentration Of Overwhelming U.S. Firepower’ At Base Near Mideast

U.S. Military Recovery Efforts Still Ongoing To Recover Vehicle Trapped In Swamp

Former NFL Running Back Arrested In Largest Individual Dog Fighting Bust Ever: Feds

Four U.S. Soldiers Found Dead After Training Exercise Near Belarusian Border

News and Analysis

China

Elon Musk

TikTok

Xi Jinping

A video goes viral showing a baby being refused his mother by two gay "dads". This is just the tip of the iceberg, which is why we will have an important discussion today about surrogacy. 

Hour 1

The Matt Walsh Show

Ep. 1765 - This Video Is One Of The Worst Things I've Seen In A Long Time 

The Strait of Hormuz officially opens for business (kind of), the Pope makes “shocking” comments on immigration, and President Trump promises UFO disclosure at TPUSA. 


The Michael Knowles Show

Ep. 1956 -  Pope Leo's "SHOCKING" Immigration Comments EXPLAINED

A false miscreed has corrupted our leadership class.


The Andrew Klavan Show

Ep. 1275 - Dumb, Dumber and Progressive

President Trump announces a 10-day ceasefire between Lebanon and Israel, a murder-suicide involving former Democratic Lieutenant Governor Justin Fairfax shakes Virginia, and France and Britain hold a conference to secure the Strait of Hormuz – after the Iranian conflict ends. Get the facts first with Morning Wire.

- - -

Ep. 2738

- - -

Wake up with new Morning Wire merch: https://bit.ly/4lIubt3

- - -

Today's Sponsors:

Alliance Defending Freedom - Visit https://JoinADF.com/WIRE or text 'WIRE' to 83848 to learn more.

Pocket Hose - Text MORNING to 64000 to get a FREE pocket pivot and their 10-pattern sprayer with the purchase of ANY size Copper Head hose. Message and data rates may apply.

Morning Wire

U.S. Expands Hormuz Blockade & VA Fairfax Deaths Investigated | 4.17.26

U.S. Expands Hormuz Blockade & VA Fairfax Deaths Investigated | 4.17.26 [Member Exclusive]

A ceasefire goes into effect between Israel and Lebanon, a tragic murder-suicide rocks Virginia, and Dairy Queen deploys AI in the drive-thru. Get the facts first with Evening Wire.
- - -
Ep. 2737
- - -
Wake up with new Morning Wire merch: https://bit.ly/4lIubt3 
- - -
Today’s Sponsor:

Alliance Defending Freedom - Visit https://JoinADF.com/WIRE or text “WIRE” to 83848 to learn more.


Evening Wire: Lebanon Ceasefire Begins & Murder-Suicide Rocks VA | 4.16.26

The Pendragon Cycle

Menu

— News and Analysis —

Elon Musk Takes Major Swipe At TikTok