Schumer Raises Concerns About US Army Using Chinese Platforms To Attract Recruits - Letter

US Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer on Tuesday released a letter that he sent to Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy in which he raised concerns about the Army's use of Chinese-owned social media platforms like TikTok to engage with potential recruits

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 12th November, 2019) US Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer on Tuesday released a letter that he sent to Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy in which he raised concerns about the Army's use of Chinese-owned social media platforms like TikTok to engage with potential recruits.

"I write to express my concern about the use of China-owned social media platforms, such as TikTok, by US Army personnel in both their personal and official capacities," Schumer said in the letter on November 7.

Schumer pointed out that the Army recently unveiled plans for a new advertising campaign that would harness such platforms to "target and recruit teenagers that show an interest in skills relevant to military service.

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Schumer urged McCarthy to assess the potential national security risks of using Chinese-owned technology companies before deciding to utilize them.

Earlier in November, media reported that the US government had opened a national security investigation into Chinese technology company ByteDance's $1 billion acquisition of the social media app Musical.ly, which was rebranded as TikTok.

US lawmakers have expressed concern about how TikTok stores users' personal data. TikTok has 26.5 million users in the United States and 60 percent of them are between the ages of 16 and 24, according to media reports.