Congress questions Amazon over ‘dangerous and unwise’ TikTok partnership

TikTok on a phone in front of the USA flag

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Amazon's shopping partnership with TikTok questioned by US congress members
The partnership allows users to purchase on Amazon but remain on the TikTok site
TikTok is facing a ban in the US, but has successfully fought it so far

The House Select Committee on China has expressed concerns over Amazon’s ecommerce partnership with Chinese-owned video platform, TikTok. The partnership between the platforms allows TikTok users to link their Amazon account, and make purchases through the site without leaving the TikTok app.

Lawmakers met with representatives from Amazon in a closed-door meeting at Capitol Hill to discuss the retail giant's deepening relationship with the video platform. The meeting reportedly took place a month after the collaboration was announced.

“The Select Committee conveyed to Amazon that it is dangerous and unwise for Amazon to partner with TikTok given the grave national security threat the app poses,” a spokesperson told Bloomberg.

National security threats

The Committee raised concerns over the perceived threats posed by China’s government, and that a leading US company was partnered with a Chinese-owned organization, which has been previously threatened with a ban over national security concerns.

“Like many other US companies, we maintain open lines of communication with officials across all levels of government to discuss issues that are of interest to policymakers, our employees, and our customers,” the spokesperson said.

Amazon has advertised on TikTok for a long time, but the shopping collaboration will likely make it more difficult for the US to ban TikTok as previously attempted, given Amazon is the second largest employer in the US, and second largest company in the world by revenue.

Earlier in 2024, the US threatened TikTok with a ban unless it severed ties with Chinese parent company ByteDance, over concerns that the company was sharing customer data with the Chinese governments and ‘weaponize’ the information, something that TikTok has always denied.

TikTok challenged the ban, which it claims is ‘unconstitutional’, and as of yet, the platform remains on the App store. President-elect Donald Trump is expected to halt the efforts to ban the app, so its future is looking more secure.

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Ellen has been writing for almost four years, with a focus on post-COVID policy whilst studying for BA Politics and International Relations at the University of Cardiff, followed by an MA in Political Communication. Before joining TechRadar Pro as a Junior Writer, she worked for Future Publishing’s MVC content team, working with merchants and retailers to upload content.