A top US Attorney has hit out at the US government for blaming China after imposing a possible TikTok ban across the country.
US President Joe Biden has signed a bill into law to block the video sharing app across the United States, following fears that the platform might share user data with the Chinese government - claims it has always denied.
The Biden administration has given the social media app's Chinese owner ByteDance nine months to divest the app, or it will be blocked in the US.
Speaking to GBN America, attorney Ian Samuel claimed there is "no evidence" of the Chinese government's influence on American TikTok users.
Ian Samuel says it is 'strange' that the US is attempting to impose a ban on TikTok
GBNA / Getty
In a discussion with host Mark Dolan, Samuel explained to GBNA that the ban "wouldn't work in the long term" and that the government's belief that the Communist Party of China is sharing "propaganda" is a "fantasy".
Samuel said: "The idea that the Chinese government is going to use this to indoctrinate the youth of America with Marxism-Leninism is perhaps an appealing fantasy, but there is simply no evidence of it whatsoever."
Host Mark Dolan argued that the US government are "right to be concerned" about the links between TikTok and the Chinese state, who are "clearly an international bad actor and a threat to US national security".
Samuel disagreed, responding: "I would say that is simply not how they are explaining themselves. We don't see TikTok propaganda supporting the Communist Party of China.
Joe Biden is imposing a TikTok ban in the US
Reuters
"Perhaps that would be possible given the control of the government over ByteDance, but we don't see anything like that."
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Criticising the proposed ban by Biden's administration, Samuel noted that it is "strange" of the US government to "tell adults what they are allowed to listen to".
Samuel fumed: "This really gives the game away. What it really demonstrates what they're going to do is they're going to tell Americans you are not allowed to listen to certain messages, because they think that the Communist Party of China shouldn't be able to talk to you.
"Even if there's no evidence that they are. Isn't that a bit strange?"
Samuel argued that as an American citizen, he should be "entitled to decide for myself who I will listen to and think what I want of their message".
Ian Samuel says the US's ban on TikTok is for 'transparent political reasons'
GBNA
Samuel added: "Isn't it a bit strange to tell an adult person in the United States you are not allowed to hear certain ideas from foreign actors that we disapprove of? That's rather surprising."
Sharing his view on the possible reasons for the proposed ban, Samuel told GBNA: "I have never seen in my entire life an actual attempt to ban a social media platform for the most transparently political reasons.
"The media needs to be mediated, it needs to be filtered and under a certain kind of control so that unacceptable ideas, unacceptable images, unacceptable thoughts do not get out there where they can do real harm."
