by As the dust settles over the US shootdown of an alleged Chinese spy balloon, Republicans have turned to another, more familiar Chinese target of opportunity — TikTok, the social media app thought by many to be little more than Chinese spyware.
Speaking on Fox News after a US F-22 Raptor shot down the balloon — which China insists was a wayward weather balloon — Republican senator Tom Cotton was incensed.
“I think this spy balloon that so vividly went across America is a very high-profile reminder to Americans about what the Chinese communists have been up to,” Cotton said over the weekend.
“I got to tell you viewers, if they’re worried about a spy balloon flying across the middle of America, let me tell them about the TikTok app that they may have on their phone and what it means for their security and their privacy and that of their children, as well.”
Cotton was not alone in calling out the social media app.