{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases/cotton-demands-answers-on-foreign-tiktok-employees-in-the-us", "Cotton Demands Answers on Foreign TikTok Employees in the US", "2022-11-14", "2022", "2022-11", "Republican", "Senate", "AR", "Tom Cotton", "C001095", "www.cotton.senate.gov", "cotton", "https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases", "scraper", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE\n\nContact: Caroline Tabler orJames Arnold (202) 224-2353\n\nNovember 14, 2022\n\nCotton Demands Answers on Foreign TikTok Employees in the US\n\nWashington, D.C. \u2014 Senator Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) today sent a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas regarding security concerns that TikTok and its Chinese parent company ByteDance pose to American citizens\u2019 personal data. The letter requested details on TikTok\u2019s use of H-1B guest workers who may have ties to the Chinese Communist Party.\n\nIn part, Senator Cotton wrote:\n\n\u201cIn 2022 alone DHS has approved over 570 new and continuing H-1B visas for foreign individuals to work at ByteDance and TikTok\u2019s offices in California. Given the security concerns with TikTok and the company\u2019s repeated statements about \u201cUS-based\u201d teams and data centers, having hundreds of foreign nationals working in those offices presents another potential threat.\u201d\n\nFull text of the letter may be found here and below.\n\nNovember 14, 2022\n\nThe Honorable Alejandro MayorkasSecretary\n\nDepartment of Homeland Security\n\nWashington, D.C. 20528\n\nDear Secretary Mayorkas:\n\nI write regarding TikTok and its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, and their use of H-1B guest worker visas for employees who might have ties to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). TikTok captures vast amounts of private information on users, including American citizens, and has long been suspected of providing the CCP with potential access to that information. This threatens the safety and security of American citizens, and also functions as an avenue for the Chinese government to track the locations of and develop blackmail on Federal employees and contractors.\n\nIn response to security and espionage concerns, TikTok claims that it stores \u201call TikTok US user data in the United States,\u201d and that its \u201cdata centers are located entirely outside of China.\u201d In a Senate hearing, TikTok\u2019s vice president added that TikTok has a \u201cUS-based security team that handles access to user data.\u201d However, recent public reports indicate that sensitive data on American users of TikTok has been accessed from within China, that Beijing-based employees of ByteDance have targeted specific American users for surveillance, and that at least 300 TikTok and ByteDance employees are also current or former employees of Chinese state media.\n\nIn 2022 alone, DHS has approved over 570 new and continuing H-1B visas for foreign individuals to work at ByteDance and TikTok\u2019s offices in California. Given the security concerns with TikTok and the company\u2019s repeated statements about \u201cUS-based\u201d teams and data centers, having hundreds of foreign nationals working in those offices presents another potential threat. For each H-1B application sponsored by ByteDance or TikTok in 2022, please provide a list of the nationalities and job titles of each applicant employee no later than 5:00PM on Tuesday, November 15.\n\nI look forward to your prompt response.\n\nSincerely,\n\n________________\n\nTom Cotton\n\nUnited States Senator", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-08T03:24:37Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases/cotton-demands-answers-on-foreign-tiktok-employees-in-the-us"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.1755889281630516, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}