Rep. John Katko asks TikTok to crack down on drug cartels | Politics



FILE – This September 28, 2020 file photo shows a view of the TikTok app logo in Tokyo. (AP Photo / Kiichiro Sato, File)


Kiichiro Sato

Given that Mexican drug cartels are using TikTok to recruit smugglers and threaten border guards, US Representative John Katko hopes the social media platform will step in.

Katko, R-Camillus, and 29 Republicans from the House of Representatives sent a letter to Shikzi Chew, CEO of TikTok, urging him to crack down on the cartels by using the popular video-sharing service to get people, including teenagers, in the US recruiting for smuggling operations and other crimes.

“The Department of Homeland Security faces growing challenges related to curbing the flow of irregular migration into the country, and the recruitment and promotion of smuggling activities on these platforms exacerbates an increasingly intolerable situation for frontline law enforcement personnel as well as those in need of protection Migrant populations are being exploited during a pandemic, “wrote Katko and his colleagues.

In the letter to Chew, members of Congress also expressed concern about a video posted on the platform that was flagged by law enforcement agencies. The video that members reviewed shows an armed member of a drug cartel threatening border guards.

Members told Chew that cartel members “openly glorify and normalize illegal behavior and violence in order to recruit new members, most recently American teenagers.” They added that the behavior violated TikTok’s Terms of Service.

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