Vice President Kamala Harris on Wednesday avoided answering whether she supports banning TikTok, the China-founded social media platform whose popularity has soared while concerns have grown.
Ms. Harris avoided directly stating whether the U.S. government should restrict TikTok during remarks at The New York Times DealBook summit.
“You don’t have a specific view on TikTok itself?” asked moderator Andrew Ross Sorkin.
“I’m not commenting on that,” Ms. Harris replied.
The vice president shifted the conversation to a discussion of Russia’s use of social media to meddle in American politics, and her past work on the Senate Intelligence Committee. But Mr. Sorkin sought to steer the conversation back to the China-founded platform.
“Are you on TikTok yourself?” Mr. Sorkin asked.
“I am not,” Ms. Harris said. “But many of the young people in my family are, I’ll tell you that.”
“And do you tell them to get off?” Mr. Sorkin asked.
“You know, you can tell young people in your family all kinds of things to do,” Ms. Harris said, laughing.
U.S. officials have concerns that Americans’ TikTok data is accessible in China to communist officials, and fear that China’s government may leverage the platform to manipulate Americans.
Several Biden administration officials have offered clear advice surrounding the use of TikTok, in contrast with Ms. Harris.
For example, Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency director Jen Easterly told House lawmakers in March she would support a nationwide ban of TikTok, though she was not sure it would be possible to effectively implement.
Last month, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo told senators the problems presented by TikTok are broader than people know.
“I’m often asked, ‘Should we outlaw TikTok?’ This is bigger than TikTok,” Ms. Raimondo said at a Senate Commerce Committee hearing. “Certainly, TikTok poses national security risks, to be clear, but we need a comprehensive plan.”
Ms. Raimondo said the best policy would tackle the concerns surrounding TikTok and address them on other applications as well.
President Biden has made no public determination whether to ban TikTok and has maintained a national security review of the platform initiated during the preceding Trump administration.
As the 2024 election approaches, any restriction on TikTok would likely upset millions of voters who use the platform and lead to litigation about any government actions potentially curtailing speech.
TikTok said in March it counted more than 150 million Americans as monthly active users. The platform has repeatedly sought to distance itself from China’s government, and its CEO Shou Zi Chew has said the company has not handed over data to the communist government.
Mr. Chew is set to testify at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing in January alongside other social media CEOs on their platforms’ alleged dangers to children.
