WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) and Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), along with Representative Dan Crenshaw (R-Texas), led a group of their GOP colleagues in calling on all members of Congress “to lead by example” by ceasing the use of the China-owned TikTok. They also urged that House and Senate rules be amended to ban members of Congress from continued use of TikTok.

The letter, sent to the chairs and ranking members of the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration and the Committee on House Administration, notes that several members of Congress still use TikTok and effectively encourage their constituents to use the app even though all members have received warnings from their respective chamber’s cybersecurity officials.   

“It is troublesome that some members continue to disregard these clear warnings and are even encouraging their constituents to use TikTok to interface with their elected representatives – especially since some of these users are minors,” wrote the members. “We feel this situation warrants further action to protect the privacy of both sensitive congressional information and the personal information of our constituents. To that end, we urge you to enact a change to the Senate and House rules to ban members of Congress from using TikTok for official use.”

Signers of the Blackburn-Tillis-Crenshaw letter also include Senator Rick Scott (R-Fla.) and Representatives Dusty Johnson (R-S.D.), Troy Balderson (R-Ohio), Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.), Earl L. “Buddy” Carter  (R-Ga.), Randy Weber (R-Texas), Michael Guest (R-Miss.), Greg Pence (R-Ind.), Glenn Grothman (R-Wis.), Randy Feenstra (R-Iowa), John Moolenaar (R-Mich.), Max Miller (R-Ohio), Rick W. Allen (R-Ga.), and Jack Bergman (R-Mich.).