TikTok, the video-sharing app owned by the Chinese Communist Party, is facing increasing scrutiny and being banned by state governments and colleges across the country due to fears that it’s a spy app. Now, the company has hired SKDK, a consulting firm with ties to Joe Biden, to help it navigate the politics of Washington, D.C.
The hiring of SKDK has been confirmed by Politico, which reports that the firm is providing communications support to the company, which has come under government scrutiny in recent years. Senators have introduced a bipartisan bill empowering Biden to restrict or potentially ban the service.
The fire TikTok has faced in D.C. has been building for a number of years. The Trump administration previously tried to ban the app, and the Biden administration’s Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. is currently conducting a national security review of TikTok.
SKDK is seen as the most well-connected Democratic firm in Washington, with former top employees holding senior and mid-level roles in the Biden administration. Anita Dunn, a founding partner, returned to the White House last May, where she is senior adviser after a stint in the early part of the Biden administration and work on the 2020 campaign.
Other former SKDK employees in the Biden administration include deputy White House communications directors Kate Berner and Herbie Ziskend, deputy Pentagon press secretary Sabrina Singh, and Interior Department press secretary Tyler Cherry.
This latest development has raised questions about the relationship between the Biden administration and the Chinese Communist Party. If Biden and the Democrats want to distance themselves from the CCP, hiring a firm with ties to Biden is not the way to do it.
The scrutiny surrounding TikTok is understandable, given the company’s connections to the Chinese government. Many people believe that the app is used to gather data on American citizens and share it with the Chinese Communist Party. The idea of a Chinese-owned company having access to so much personal information has raised serious concerns about national security.
State governments and colleges across the country have already taken action to ban TikTok on official phones, and more measures are likely to follow. It’s clear that TikTok needs to do more to address these concerns and reassure users that their data is safe. Hiring a consulting firm with ties to the Biden administration may not be the best way to do that.
The situation highlights the need for more scrutiny of Chinese-owned companies operating in the U.S. It’s important to be vigilant about the potential for espionage and data gathering by foreign governments, particularly when it comes to apps and other technology that are widely used by Americans.
Sources: TheGatewayPundit, Politico