This year marks the first anniversary of the October 7, 2023 terrorist attacks against Israel. 32 Americans died in those attacks, and four of the Americans taken hostage that day remain in captivity. U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) released a video remembering the...
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Photos: Rubio Meets With Florida Farm Bureau Post-Hurricane Helene
Following Hurricane Helene’s catastrophic damage throughout Florida’s gulf coast, U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) met with the Florida Farm Bureau as well as local agricultural producers, farmers, and growers to discuss the storm’s impact. Photos are courtesy of...
Photos: Rubio Visits Barrier Islands Post-Hurricane Helene
Following Hurricane Helene’s catastrophic damage throughout Florida’s Gulf Coast, U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) met with local officials and volunteers from the barrier islands to discuss the storm’s impact and current recovery efforts. Photos are courtesy of...
Rubio, Scott, Florida Colleagues to POTUS: Expedite Resources to Floridians
Hurricane Helene made landfall as a Category 4 storm, causing catastrophic damage along Florida’s Gulf Coast. It’s crucial for the federal government to expedite state-requested resources and authorize key policy flexibilities in order for Floridians to make a swift...
Rubio Staff Hosts Hurricane Helene Recovery Assistance
U.S. Senator Marco Rubio’s (R-FL) office will host two in-person events to assist constituents affected by Hurricane Helene and help navigate applications for FEMA assistance. Food, water, and additional resources will be available at the events. Event...
Next Week: Rubio Staff Hosts Mobile Office Hours
U.S. Senator Marco Rubio’s (R-FL) office will host in-person and virtual Mobile Office Hours next week to assist constituents with federal casework issues in their respective local communities. These office hours offer constituents who do not live close to one of...
ICYMI: Rubio and Gallagher Call for National TikTok Ban
TikTok, time’s up. The app should be banned in America.
U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) and U.S. Representative Mike Gallagher (R-WI)
November 10, 2022
Washington Post
The United States is locked in a new Cold War with the Chinese Communist Party, one that senior military advisers warn could turn hot over Taiwan at any time. Yet millions of Americans increasingly rely on TikTok, a Chinese social media app exposed to the influence of the CCP, to consume the news, share content and communicate with friends….
TikTok is owned by the Chinese company ByteDance. This is not a state-owned enterprise, but in China, no company is truly private. Under the country’s 2017 National Intelligence Law, all citizens and businesses are required to assist in intelligence work, which includes sharing data….
[ByteDance’s] ownership of TikTok is problematic for two reasons. First, the app can track cellphone users’ locations and collect internet-browsing data — even when users are visiting unrelated websites…. With this app, Beijing could…collect sensitive national security information from U.S. government employees and develop profiles on millions of Americans to use for blackmail or espionage….
Even more alarming than that possibility, however, are the potential abuses of TikTok’s algorithm…. TikTok has already censored references to politically sensitive topics, including the treatment of workers in Xinjiang, China, and the 1989 protests in Tiananmen Square….
TikTok is a major threat to U.S. national security. Yet Biden is encouraging greater engagement with the platform by directly courting TikTok influencers. Furthermore, reports suggest that he is nearing a deal that would authorize TikTok’s continued operation in the United States without any change in ownership….
Unless TikTok and its algorithm can be separated from Beijing, the app’s use in the United States will continue to jeopardize our country’s safety and pave the way for a Chinese-influenced tech landscape here…. This is why we’re introducing legislation which would ban TikTok and other social media companies that are effectively controlled by the CCP from operating in the United States….
Read the rest here.