SAN FRANCISCO, CA -- Reddit CEO Steve Huffman is calling social media app TikTok "parasitic" in nature
At a forum last week, he urged people not to install that spyware on their phone. TikTok has been growing in popularity despite concerns of its ties to the Chinese government.
It was developed by a Beijing company.Huffman says the app is always listening and uses fingerprinting technology that he says is terrifying.
Last month, the Army banned TikTok over growing concerns of the app as cybersecurity threat.
The Defense Information Systems Agency issued a cyber awareness message recommending that all employees of the Defense Department avoid the Chinese-owned app.
The Army is banning soldiers from using the social media app on government phones.
"It is considered a cyber threat," Lt. Col. Robin Ochoa, a spokeswoman for the Army, toldMilitary.com. "We do not allow it on government phones."
Last October, two U.S. Senators are flagged social media platform TikTok for potential cybersecurity threats.
In a public letter to Acting Director of National Intelligence Joseph Maguire, Senators Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Tom Cotton (R-AR) are calling for an investigation of Chinese-owned social media app TikTok.
The senators say in the letter, “with over 110 million downloads in the US alone, TikTok is a potential counterintelligence threat we cannot ignore".
TikTok is owned by Chinese company Bytedance Inc., and concern for possible foreign influence campaigns are top of mind as the U.S. is a little more than a year away from a presidential election.