RELEASE: Gottheimer Leads Letter Demanding President Trump Crack Down on CCP-Linked Tech Companies TikTok and DeepSeek

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, June 5, 2025, U.S. Congressman Josh Gottheimer (NJ-5) led a letter to President Donald Trump urging immediate action on tech companies TikTok and DeepSeek over their ties to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and threats to U.S. national security. 

The letter was co-led by Congressmen Ritchie Torres (NY-15) and Seth Moulton (MA-6).

Since returning to office, President Trump has repeatedly undermined efforts to hold TikTok accountable, granting multiple unlawful extensions for the company to divest from Chinese ownership, as well as offering legal and rhetorical support to the CCP-linked platform. TikTok is the top news source for Americans under the age of 30, and regularly spews anti-American and antisemitic content.

The Trump Administration has also refused to ban DeepSeek — an AI company with direct connections to the CCP — from U.S. government devices. Reports show that DeepSeek has accessed sensitive user data, including chat and browsing histories, and consistently amplified pro-Chinese propaganda, including whitewashing the Tiananmen Square massacre.

“Like many of our colleagues on both sides of the aisle, we share concerns about how social media platforms operate, including issues related to content moderation, privacy, children’s mental health, and data protection, among others. Of course, U.S. technology companies are not above scrutiny. That said, there is a clear distinction between American companies that are accountable under U.S. law and foreign-owned platforms like TikTok and DeepSeek, which remain opaque, unregulated, aggressive in their data collection practices, deceptive in their content and privacy policies, and subject to influence from adversarial governments,” the Members wrote in a letter to President Trump.

“It is clear to many lawmakers that TikTok and DeepSeek raise legitimate and well-documented security concerns. That is why Congress, national security experts, and multiple administrations have taken bipartisan action to limit their influence. We urge you and your Administration to follow the law and do the same. To that end, we ask that you provide clarity regarding your Administration’s strategy to address the advantageous treatment of foreign technology with ties to the Chinese Communist Party,” the Members continued.

The full list of Members who signed the letter includes: Jim Costa (CA-21), Brad Sherman (CA-32), and Tom Suozzi (NY-3).

Full text of the letter sent to President Trump can be found here and below:

Dear President Trump:

We write to express concern and seek clarification regarding your Administration’s recent statements and actions regarding Chinese Communist Party-connected TikTok and DeepSeek. As you know, Congress passed the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act on an overwhelmingly bipartisan basis to hold TikTok accountable, given its well-documented connections to our top adversary, the Chinese Communist Party.

Yet, at the same time — and this continues to confound us — your Administration has subsequently offered legal and rhetorical support to TikTok. You and your Administration have granted TikTok multiple extensions that have delayed both TikTok’s qualified divestment from China and the much-preferred transfer of TikTok to American ownership. This stance is confusing given that your Administration has simultaneously shown itself to be capable of aggressively investigating American social media and technology companies.

Your Administration has also refused to ban DeepSeek — an AI company with clear ties to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) — from all U.S. government devices. Many of our peers, such as Italy, Australia, South Korea, and Taiwan, along with several individual U.S. states, including Texas, New York, and Virginia, have banned DeepSeek on all government devices.

We recognize that 170 million Americans use TikTok and the app is the top news source of Americans under the age of 30.  Nevertheless, we remain concerned that TikTok spews anti-American content and regularly rewrites Chinese history, including the Tiananmen Square massacre.  Further, we know that DeepSeek is inappropriately accessing user data,  including chat and browsing histories, and is used by China to amplify pro-Chinese propaganda.  It has also become increasingly clear that DeepSeek used intellectual property developed by an American company, OpenAI, to train its algorithm.  

Like many of our colleagues on both sides of the aisle, we share concerns about how social media platforms operate, including issues related to content moderation, privacy, children’s mental health, and data protection, among others. Of course, U.S. technology companies are not above scrutiny. That said, there is a clear distinction between American companies that are accountable under U.S. law and foreign-owned platforms like TikTok and DeepSeek, which remain opaque, unregulated, aggressive in their data collection practices, deceptive in their content and privacy policies, and subject to influence from adversarial governments. 

It is clear to many lawmakers that TikTok and DeepSeek raise legitimate and well-documented security concerns. That is why Congress, national security experts, and multiple administrations have taken bipartisan action to limit their influence. We urge you and your Administration to follow the law and do the same. To that end, we ask that you provide clarity regarding your Administration’s strategy to address the advantageous treatment of foreign technology with ties to the Chinese Communist Party. 

Our economy, national security, and competitiveness depend on supporting American businesses even as we hold them accountable. We must ensure that our policies reflect the best interests of the American economy, workers, and democratic values.

We look forward to hearing back from you. 

Sincerely,

MEMBERS OF CONGRESS

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