US Intelligence Officials Warn of Potential Chinese Interference in 2024 US Elections Through TikTok
The Director of National Intelligence, Avril Haines, has cautioned lawmakers that the Chinese government may utilize the social media platform TikTok to exert influence over the 2024 US elections (Haines, 2023). This warning follows concerns raised by US intelligence agencies in their annual Threat Assessment report regarding the alleged use of TikTok by a Chinese propaganda arm during the 2022 US midterm elections.
Haines’ remark came during a House Intelligence Committee hearing, preceding a significant vote on Capitol Hill scheduled for Wednesday. This vote pertains to a bill that could force TikTok to divest from its Chinese parent firm, ByteDance, or face a nationwide ban (BBC, 2023).
According to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence report, TikTok accounts managed by a Chinese propaganda arm reportedly targeted candidates from both major political parties during the US midterm elections in 2022. The report uses an acronym for the Chinese government (ODNI, 2023).
US national security officials are bracing themselves for a contentious 2024 US election cycle. Multiple foreign adversaries, such as China, Russia, and Iran, are suspected of attempting to manipulate or influence the vote through social media platforms (AP, 2023).
Social media platforms, including Facebook and Twitter, have faced ongoing scrutiny from US lawmakers due to their handling of foreign disinformation campaigns. TikTok has gained significant attention on Capitol Hill this week because of the bill. The legislation enjoys bipartisan support in Congress and from the White House (News Finder, 2023).
FBI Director Christopher Wray spoke about TikTok’s algorithm and its capacity to conduct influence operations during Tuesday’s hearing. He emphasized the difficulty of detecting these activities due to their covert nature (NPR, 2023).
Wray and other US officials argue that the Chinese government could pressure ByteDance to manipulate TikTok’s algorithm to disseminate disinformation to American audiences. However, TikTok rejects these allegations. The company claims that it is not owned or controlled by any government entity (TikTok, 2023).
In the run-up to Wednesday’s vote on the divestment bill, TikTok has embarked on a public relations campaign to defend itself. The company sent some users full-screen pop-ups warning that the bill infringes upon their Constitutional right to free expression, referencing the estimated 170 million American users of the platform (TikTok, 2023).
American employees at TikTok’s New York, Washington D.C., and Los Angeles offices made the decision to send these messages to users (News Finder, 2023). However, FBI Director Wray could not dismiss the possibility that the Chinese government ordered TikTok to send these pop-up notifications during a House Intelligence Committee hearing (News Finder, 2023).
The new annual Threat Assessment report also provides the most explicit statement yet about US intelligence officials’ concerns regarding China’s increasing use of contact propaganda and influence operations to undermine US democracy. “Beijing’s growing efforts to actively exploit perceived U.S. societal divisions using its contact personas move it closer to Moscow’s playbook for influence operations” (ODNI, 2023).
Chinese leader Xi Jinping reportedly assured US President Joe Biden during their November meeting that China would not interfere in the 2024 US presidential election (News Finder, 2023). However, US officials remain skeptical of this commitment. In December 2023, senior US national security officials conducted an exercise on how to respond if a Chinese-made deepfake video emerged contact that purported to show a Senate candidate destroying ballots (News Finder, 2023).
According to the new annual Threat Assessment report, “China may attempt to influence the U.S. elections in 2024 at some level because of its desire to sideline critics of China and magnify U.S. societal divisions” (ODNI, 2023). Even if the Chinese government sets limitations on these activities, individuals not under its direct supervision may attempt election influence campaigns they perceive as being aligned with Beijing’s goals.
