UPDATE 1-US spy chief “cannot rule out” that China would use TikTok to influence US elections

China could use social media app TikTok to influence the 2024 U.S. elections, U.S. Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines told a House of Representatives intelligence committee hearing on Tuesday. Asked by Democratic Representative Raja Krishnamoorthi if China’s ruling Communist Party (CCP) would use TikTok to influence the elections, Haines said: “We cannot rule out that the CCP would use it.” Krishnamoorthi is also the ranking Democrat on the House select committee on China, who along with its Republican chair Mike Gallagher, last week introduced a bill that would give TikTok’s Chinese owner ByteDance about six months to divest the short video app used by 170 million Americans.