U.S. Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) and Congresswoman Elise Stefanik (NY-21) have sent a letter to Chief of the National Guard Bureau, General Daniel Hokanson, demanding answers for an Air National Guardsman’s participation in a recent advertisement on TikTok that appears to serve as a de facto National Guard endorsement of a Chinese-controlled platform.
The TikTok advertisement features a member of the Air National Guard expressing his support for and use of TikTok. In the video, the Servicemember explains how he personally uses this platform from the perspective of his military service and that it “allows [him] to reach the military community.”
Senator Hawley and Congresswoman Stefanik wrote, “This is extremely concerning given the known threats TikTok poses to Americans-especially so as TikTok is now banned on all U.S. Government devices.”
“Not only does TikTok play a leading role in manipulating American citizens’ perceptions of China generally, but influence operations like this could directly undermine the National Guard’s ability to mobilize in crisis or conflict. […] Both TikTok and the Chinese Communist Party continue to actively undermine American interests, both in the Indo-Pacific and in the American homeland, that the National Guard is tasked to defend.”
In January, Senator Hawley introduced the No TikTok on United States Devices Act to prohibit TikTok from operating in the United States and ban commercial activity with TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance.
In December 2022, Senator Hawley’s No TikTok on Government Devices was signed into law effectively banning the Chinese app on all federal devices – including those belonging to the Department of Defense.
Read the full letter here.
