美国国家公共电台 NPR--FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr supports a total ban on TikTok

FCC Commissioner¹ Brendan Carr supports a total ban on TikTok

Transcript²

More than a dozen states have banned Tiktok from government devices over security concerns. NPR's Leila Fadel talks to FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr about the issues with the social media app.

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

TikTok. It's addictive³. You can spend hours scrolling⁴ through those one-minute videos. Fun, but it may also pose a risk to national security and your privacy. U.S. lawmakers, both Republicans and Democrats⁶, are voicing concerns about the app and the Chinese-owned parent company, ByteDance. More than a dozen states have banned TikTok from government devices. Congress appears to be about to do the same thing for federal devices. And a bipartisan bill introduced last week aims to ban it entirely⁷ in the United States. Brendan Carr is a commissioner with the Federal Communications Commission. He's been pretty vocal⁸ about his concerns, and he joins me now. Good morning.

BRENDAN CARR: So good to be with you. Thanks so much.

FADEL: So let's start with why TikTok is a national security risk.

CARR: Well, you're right that this thing is immensely popular, particularly young kids, teenagers. Two-thirds of them now...

FADEL: Right.

CARR: ...Are on TikTok. And they think it's just a fun app for sharing dance videos and other memes. But the reality is it operates as a very sophisticated surveillance technology. And for years now, it's been taking all of this data - not the videos themselves but data from your phone, including search and browsing⁹ history, keystroke patterns. It reserves the right to take biometrics, including face prints and voice prints. And for years, we're told, don't worry, none of that is stored inside China. But there was a bombshell report over the summer that got internal TikTok communications that showed no, in fact, quote, "everything is seen in China." So that's just one feature of the national security threat.

FADEL: Right. And we're seeing reports this week that an internal investigation¹⁰ of ByteDance found that employees had taken data of U.S. TikTok users, including two reporters. You know, I want to talk to you about why you're using your platform to sound the alarm. The FCC doesn't regulate an app like TikTok, right?

CARR: Yeah, we've got a lot of experience when it comes with entities¹¹ that are tied back to the CCP and potentially nefarious¹² data flow. So, for instance, at the FCC, we've dealt with Huawei, ZTE, China Mobile. So what I'm doing is taking my experience from those sets of work and applying it at the application level to TikTok. But in the main, the U.S. officials that would take action here would be the Treasury¹³ Department. They have an organization called CFIUS that's been engaged in a multiyear review of TikTok. And there's really broad bipartisan interest in this. In fact, Democrat⁵ senator from Virginia Mark Warner, chair of the Senate Intel Committee, has been one of the most vocal on TikTok. And he has said that TikTok is an enormous threat, in his view.

FADEL: So what do you think needs to happen?

CARR: Well, look. At this point, I just don't see a path forward where we can allow this app to continue to operate in its current form. As you noted¹⁴, just yesterday morning, TikTok said that they were engaged in a renewed campaign to secure the trust of U.S. officials. Again, this is against the backdrop of trying to cut a deal with the Treasury Department to be allowed to continue to operate. But yet, by yesterday afternoon, another new bombshell report dropped that said that Tiktok's parent company, ByteDance, based in Beijing, had been using the app to surveil the location of multiple journalists across different continents that had been publishing negative stories about TikTok. And so that is just deeply concerning. At this point, trust is the most important thing, and we've now seen repeated instances where TikTok has represented that there's no security threat while they're, in fact, engaged in conduct like that. So I think at this point, that new revelation should, in my view, be the last nail in the coffin¹⁵ for this idea that U.S. government officials can trust TikTok and bless it to continue to operate.

FADEL: So do you want a total ban?

CARR: Yeah, I think either a total ban or some sort of action like that that's going to completely sever¹⁶ the corporate¹⁷ links back into Beijing. In addition to the national security, parents are increasingly concerned, and rightly so. As I noted, two-thirds of all teenagers are on this app. And on average, users are spending 90-plus minutes. And we saw a study out just last week that was reported in The New York Times that showed that within 30 minutes, an account set up for 13-year-old girls was starting to display self-harm content, eating disorder¹⁸ content. And so it's concerning from a parental¹⁹ perspective, as well.

FADEL: But how is that different than other apps, like Instagram, which has also shown to be harmful for a teenage girl's self-esteem?

CARR: Yeah, look. There's a baseline level of concern that I have with all apps. I think we need to raise the privacy standards and the data protection standards in this country. But what we've seen is there's something just very unique about TikTok, including the ties back into Beijing. Again, ahead of the U.S. elections, the midterms, there was a report from Forbes that the CCP's propaganda arm used TikTok without disclosing it to target content about selected U.S. politicians - Republicans and Democrats - for criticism. So there's something unique there.

FADEL: FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr, thank you so much for taking the time to be on the program. And happy holidays.

CARR: Thank you so much.

1 commissioner   

n.（政府厅、局、处等部门）专员，长官，委员

参考例句：

• The commissioner has issued a warrant for her arrest.专员发出了对她的逮捕令。
• He was tapped for police commissioner.他被任命为警务处长。

2 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

3 addictive   

adj.(吸毒等)使成瘾的，成为习惯的

参考例句：

• The problem with video game is that they're addictive.电子游戏机的问题在于它们会使人上瘾。
• Cigarettes are highly addictive.香烟很容易使人上瘾。

4 scrolling   

n.卷[滚]动法，上下换行v.（电脑屏幕上）从上到下移动（资料等），卷页( scroll的现在分词 )；（似卷轴般）卷起；（像展开卷轴般地）将文字显示于屏幕

参考例句：

• Another important detail required by auto-scrolling is a time delay. 自动滚屏需要的另一个重要细节是时间延迟。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓
• In 2D visualization and drawing applications, vertical and horizontal scrolling are common. 在二维的可视化及绘图应用中，垂直和水平滚动非常普遍。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

5 democrat   

n.民主主义者，民主人士；民主党党员

参考例句：

• The Democrat and the Public criticized each other.民主党人和共和党人互相攻击。
• About two years later,he was defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter.大约两年后，他被民主党人杰米卡特击败。

6 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

8 vocal   

adj.直言不讳的；嗓音的；n.[pl.]声乐节目

参考例句：

• The tongue is a vocal organ.舌头是一个发音器官。
• Public opinion at last became vocal.终于舆论哗然。

9 browsing   

v.吃草( browse的现在分词 )；随意翻阅；（在商店里）随便看看；（在计算机上）浏览信息

参考例句：

• He sits browsing over[through] a book. 他坐着翻阅书籍。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Cattle is browsing in the field. 牛正在田里吃草。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

11 entities   

实体对像； 实体，独立存在体，实际存在物( entity的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Our newspaper and our printing business form separate corporate entities. 我们的报纸和印刷业形成相对独立的企业实体。
• The North American continent is made up of three great structural entities. 北美大陆是由三个构造单元组成的。

12 nefarious   

adj.恶毒的，极坏的

参考例句：

• My father believes you all have a nefarious purpose here.我父亲认为你们都有邪恶的目的。
• He was universally feared because of his many nefarious deeds.因为他干了许多罪恶的勾当，所以人人都惧怕他。

13 treasury   

n.宝库；国库，金库；文库

参考例句：

• The Treasury was opposed in principle to the proposals.财政部原则上反对这些提案。
• This book is a treasury of useful information.这本书是有价值的信息宝库。

14 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

15 coffin   

n.棺材，灵柩

参考例句：

• When one's coffin is covered,all discussion about him can be settled.盖棺论定。
• The coffin was placed in the grave.那口棺材已安放到坟墓里去了。

16 sever   

v.切开，割开；断绝，中断

参考例句：

• She wanted to sever all her connections with the firm.她想断绝和那家公司的所有联系。
• We must never sever the cultural vein of our nation.我们不能割断民族的文化血脉。

17 corporate   

adj.共同的，全体的；公司的，企业的

参考例句：

• This is our corporate responsibility.这是我们共同的责任。
• His corporate's life will be as short as a rabbit's tail.他的公司的寿命是兔子尾巴长不了。

18 disorder   

n.紊乱，混乱；骚动，骚乱；疾病，失调

参考例句：

• When returning back,he discovered the room to be in disorder.回家后，他发现屋子里乱七八糟。
• It contained a vast number of letters in great disorder.里面七零八落地装着许多信件。

19 parental   

adj.父母的；父的；母的

参考例句：

• He encourages parental involvement in the running of school.他鼓励学生家长参与学校的管理。
• Children always revolt against parental disciplines.孩子们总是反抗父母的管束。