TikTok gives the Chinese Communist Party a "window into Americans' lives" and everyone, not only government officials, should stay away from it, Sen. Roger Marshall said on Newsmax Thursday, a day after the Senate unanimously passed a bill banning federal employees from downloading or using the popular but controversial video social media platform.
"I don't claim to be a tech whiz, but I think that comes from a fear for our national security," said the Kansas Republican on Newsmax's "National Report."
However, Marshall said he hesitates to "make a big blanket statement" about whether TikTok should be banned from use by the American public.
"I'm all for self-responsibility," he said. "I think that parents should take a look at what their children are using ... I think that we need to have a few more meetings with national security folks to sort that out."
Marshall also discussed a bipartisan bill he's working on with Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., in a call to regulate the cryptocurrency sector following the collapse of FTX and the arrest of its founder, Sam Bankman-Fried.
"I think it has a great opportunity to get bipartisan support," he said. "It brings cryptocurrency up to the same standards that banks have ... in the concept of knowing your customer."
Cryptocurrency, Marshall added, is "absolutely a threat to our national security."
"It empowers criminals and empowers terrorists and rogue nations to perform criminal activities," said Marshall. "It enables terrorists to have ransom fees. Crypto allows piracy and rogue nations to use it in the concept of evading our sanctions as well."
Marshall also discussed the upcoming end of Title 42 at the nation's border, as the Trump-era health policy used to limit migrants from entering the company expires next week.
"The most immediate threat to America's national security is an open southern border, and $25 billion would probably fix this problem," said Marshall. "We're sending $60 billion to Ukraine. We certainly want to help the people of Ukraine; but my priority is America, Americans first, and their security and it all starts right there at the border."
Losing Title 42 will "exacerbate" the problems at the border, said Marshall.
"I've been there three times," he said. "This is not hype, folks; it is absolutely a crisis."
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Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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