Fox News contributor and former Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway came out against calls to ban TikTok in the U.S., as the company’s CEO was grilled by Congress on Thursday.
Members of Congress on both sides of the aisle have called for banning the app, citing national security and data privacy concerns. TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, is Chinese.
“I believe that the gentleman from TikTok gave some statistics that maybe the rest of us aren’t necessarily aware of. Most users are over 18. There’s a 60-minute limit for kids under 18,” Conway said Thursday on “America’s Newsroom.”
“This is a company headquartered in Los Angeles. It’s not available in China, so we should think about that,” she added.
TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew was under fire from members of Congress on Thursday as he defended the company during a hearing on Capitol Hill. He denied claims that the company is in any way subject to the will of the Chinese government, or that user data is inappropriately shared with the Chinese government.
The app is already banned on federal government devices. Multiple states have passed similar legislation to prevent employees from using it on state devices.
Conway said she was “surprised” about Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’s eagerness to ban TikTok. She said DeSantis’s ban proposal is merely a ploy to garner political support from concerned parents.
“I’m not a big ban things person,” she said.
Former President Trump attempted to use executive action to ban TikTok during his administration, and the Biden administration has requested that TikTok be sold to an American company. Trump’s move was blocked by the courts.
“Ultimately, President Trump would have preferred to have a U.S. purchaser of TikTok because then you’re subject to U.S. laws and regulations and we can hold them accountable and make them more transparent,” Conway said.