FCC Chairman Ajit Pai tweeted out the news Monday (June 29) that the Indian government has just banned almost 60 apps from Chinese companies, with TikTok leading the list.
The tweet came the same day that Pai, himself the son of Indian immigrants, was speaking on a webinar to the U.S.-India Business Council.
Related: Reps Grill TikTok Over Privacy
As the tweet said, the Indian government concluded that TikTok and other Chinese apps were "prejudicial to the sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, security of state and public order."
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Pai is among many Republicans who has signaled they think social media sites and other edge providers have gotten sufficiently large and powerful to warrant more scrutiny in Washington.
Legislators on both sides of the aisle in this country, led by Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), have been trying to get TikTok off the devices of government employees and kids for a while now.
A bipartisan quartet of Senators has called for a government investigation into the wildly popular social media video app, saying that "[f]aced with compelling evidence that [TikTok] is blatantly flouting binding U.S. privacy rules, the FTC should move swiftly to launch an investigation and forcefully hold violators accountable for their conduct."
Related: Bill Would Ban TikTok From Government Devices
TikTok (formerly Musical.ly) last year agreed to pay $5.7 million to settle the FTC allegation that it had illegally collected personal info from kids. In addition to the settlement, TikTok "agreed to change their practices to ensure COPPA compliance," the FTC said at the time.
