RFK Jr. threatens to challenge TikTok ban: It’s just a ‘smoke screen’

Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. threatened to challenge a potential TikTok ban Friday, as efforts to block the video app in the U.S. came closer to reality earlier this week.

“I’m going to file a lawsuit challenging the TikTok ban on Constitutional grounds,” Kennedy wrote on social media platform X. “Don’t be fooled — the TikTok ban is not about China harvesting your data. That’s a smoke screen.”

“Intelligence agencies from lots of countries, especially ours, are harvesting your data from everywhere all the time,” he added.

His comments come just days after President Biden signed a $95 billion national security package that includes language to ban TikTok in the U.S. if the app’s Chinese parent company ByteDance, does not sell the app. ByteDance officials said they have no intention of selling the app, despite a potential ban.