Criminal Organizations Infiltrating Apps Like TikTok: Cybersecurity Expert

Questions over Tik Tok's fate remains. Treasury Secretary Scott Essen says China approved the transfer agreement for Tik Tok, adding that he expects it to move forward in the coming weeks and months. Meanwhile, China's Commerce Ministry said it would properly handle Tik Tok related issues with the US. Joining us to dig into the psychological aspects of the app, especially its impact on young minds, is Rex Lee, cyber security adviser at My Smart Privacy. Rex Lee, thank you so much for joining us. Great to have you back on the show. Thank you for having me on this show. Tiffany know one way a lot of young people are staying connected with their heroes or stars or people they look up to is through Tik Tok. Talk to us about the psychological divide if you will or difference between Tik Tok that we use here in the US versus doing China's internal version. >> Yeah, it's it's it's amazing because they're both owned by Bite Dance. And Tik Tok today operating as is still owned by Bite Dance. the the deal hasn't been closed at all. Um, and as you know, we went over the deal. The the bike dance is still going to retain 20% minority ownership in the new US Tik Tok. So, it's not really a US owned Tik Tok when 20% of it still going to be owned by Bite Dance. And they get 10 to 20% of the revenue kicked back to them for the use of the algorithm because they own a 100% of the algorithm and they're only licensing it to the new uh company. So, you're still going to have a China influence. And then if you look at what or how Tik Tok is programmed for not just the United States, but every country outside of the United States, it's everything goes um you know, you you they're promoting uh uh human trafficking. The these platforms like Tik Tok have been infiltrated by these criminal organizations. So, they're recruiting uh like like here in Texas, we see a lot of stories about teenagers that were recruited to go down to the border and make a quick buck through human trafficking over the Biden years and actually or be a drug mule and make money uh through that. You'll see all that type of uh stuff that's being promoted on Tik Tok, the Tik Tok challenges that have harmed kids and bad behavior. Well, uh, do yen in, uh, in China, which is Tik Tok in China, is it it's promoting good behavior. It's promoting academics. It's promoting sports. It actually has a time limit that will cut. It's a hard cut off. Again, you can be indoctrinated with a political ideology through the platforms. Likewise, there's political indoctrination being influenced through the US version of Tik Tok as well. And we see that uh regarding techbased hybrid warfare today. >> And with all that you covered, what would be your advice to parents or you know even kids who are concerned about maybe being influenced through these types of technologies and with the bedding on the side? What would be your advice? >> Um if you know my kids are growing up today. If if it were 10 years ago, they would never see a smartphone until they're 18 years old. I wouldn't even prohibit them from being on social media. They just would not have the technology to access social media through a mobile device. Um, you know, whereas a desktop computer, a parent can monitor and maybe give put some guidelines on the kid regarding screen time. There's a movement within Gen Z um where dumb phones are becoming popular because they're tired of it. They know they've been indoctrinated. They know they've been addicted to tech. And there's there's a movement toward that. So, you can forget government trying to protect these uh consumers and children from all of this because of the lobbying that's going on in on K Street. The money's too big. It'll come back on the parent to have accountability for their children rather than depending on the government. >> Definitely a lot at stake here for sure. Rexley, as always, thank you so much for joining us. >> Thank you.