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Lawmakers in both parties say TikTok threatens U.S. national security. Now that the app is banned on government devices, they want to go further and stop TikTok’s operations nationwide — a proposal that many experts believe doesn’t address bigger data protection issues.

Such a ban would be difficult if not impossible to enact, they say, and lawmakers would be better off spending their time tightening laws around personal data collection in general.

“It's an emotional issue. It's not really rational,” the Center for Strategic and International Studies’ JAMES LEWIS told NatSec Daily. “People don't like social media, and people don't like China. Put the two together, and you get something really interesting.”

But members of Congress say TikTok is worth particular scrutiny because its data could be particularly valuable to the Chinese government. After all, there’s already evidence of nefarious use in recent months and the young audience it reaches could be sensitive to influence campaigns.

The company has denied allegations of mishandling data, saying that it doesn’t share user data with the Chinese Communist Party.

The lawmakers’ worries about data collection part are a bit rich: Intelligence agencies — including American ones — and data brokers have been scraping social media for years to obtain personal information. So are big Silicon Valley companies. China’s ByteDance, then, is far from alone in hoovering your info.

But it didn’t help TikTok’s case when the company revealed it had improperly tracked three Forbes journalists late last year, using methods the magazine characterized as spying. (TikTok has fired the employees involved). China also has a long history of using social media to collect data on foreigners.

In terms of TikTok influencing the masses, some experts fear the potential for misinformation and propaganda to influence TikTok’s audience — that is, young people like Matt (and not Alex) — around elections. Using the app’s specialized algorithm, the company could suppress information on voting and other election issues, researchers have worried.

And as for software interference, senior U.S. officials have voiced concerns that TikTok, with a billion users worldwide, and its parent company could use data to possibly “control software on millions of devices, which gives it an opportunity to potentially technically compromise personal devices," CHRISTOPHER WRAY told a House Homeland Security Committee hearing in November.

Sens. JOSH HAWLEY (R-Mo.), or MARK WARNER (D-Va.), or MARCO RUBIO (R-Fla.) or MICHAEL BENNET (D-Colo.), some of the staunchest advocates for limiting TikTok’s spread in the United States, believe it's worth directly targeting the app. In separate statements to NatSec Daily, they each called for strong data protection laws, but pushed back on the notion that the video-sharing platform doesn’t pose a major risk.

“Not all apps that collect data are Chinese spyware apps. TikTok is unique. We should certainly restrict data collection more generally, and I’ve introduced legislation to do that. But let’s not lose sight of the elephant in the room,” Hawley said.

“Foreign intelligence services aren’t necessarily mindful of American privacy laws –– and even the best-intentioned, privacy-by-design-compliant system won’t necessarily stop focused foreign actors’ espionage efforts,” Warner said, adding that data protection law “certainly is one part of the solution-set.”

Congress’ most immediate problem is that the app they say is so dangerous is wildly popular. It’s used by roughly a third of the U.S. population, with younger constituents — many of them of or nearly voting age — its most ardent fans. So far, no lawmaker has offered a plan to reach and convince this audience of TikTok’s dangers.

TikTok, however, will push these and other members of Congress to address issues like data security and privacy “holistically, rather than pretending that banning a single service would solve any of the problems they're concerned about or make Americans any safer,” TikTok spokesperson BROOKE OBERWETTER told NatSec Daily.

BALLOON FIGHT: The Biden administration has offered to brief Trump-era officials on the at least three times China sent a spy balloon over the U.S. on their watch, Alex and LARA SELIGMAN reported Sunday night.

“This information was discovered after the prior administration left. The intelligence community is prepared to offer key officials from the Trump administration briefings on [China’s] surveillance program,” a senior administration official told them.

The proposal comes after former President DONALD TRUMP and senior members of his national security team said no such event took place during their four years in charge. They and other Republicans have spent days blasting President JOE BIDEN for not shooting the balloon upon detection.

Rep. MIKE WALTZ (R-Fla.), a member of the House Armed Services Committee, told Lara that the Pentagon briefed him on the location of those three instances: Two took place over Florida and another over Texas.

A U.S. Navy-led operation to recover pieces of the spy balloon spread across the Atlantic Ocean is currently underway. Officials don’t have a timeframe for how long the mission will take.

INTENSIFIED ATTACKS ON UKRAINE: Ukrainian forces say that Russia is attacking dozens of positions in the country’s east, conducting what some fear may be among Moscow’s largest offensive since the war began.

But the New York Times’ MARC SANTORA reports that Russia’s fighters — a mix of inexperienced recruits and Wagner Group paramilitaries — aren’t conducting themselves in the most efficient and effective manner during the assault.

“There was a complete lack of coordination and interaction among the servicemen of Russian occupation troops and the so-called Wagner Group’s mercenaries,” the Ukrainian General Staff said in a Monday statement.

Ukrainian officials say that Russia has deployed tens of thousands of newly mobilized soldiers to Ukraine’s northeast and southeast. That move comes as an even larger Russian offensive is expected by some within days.

“We can see that more and more reserves are being brought in our direction, we’re observing more military equipment that is being partly hidden in forested areas or dug in,” SERHIY HAIDAI, governor of the Luhansk region, told a local television station Monday. He said that, beginning on Feb. 15, Ukraine can expect a major offensive “at any time.”

EARTHQUAKE HORROR: A 7.8-magnitude earthquake has killed more than 2,800 people in Turkey and Syria, with a second earthquake and its aftershocks leveling buildings and devastating areas fragile from years of civil war.

According to the White Helmets, a humanitarian and rescue group, 380 people have died from the events in rebel-held northwest Syria, leaving more than 1,000 injured and untold numbers more caught under the rubble.

“What makes it more dangerous is that the bombing has affected the buildings, which have almost destroyed infrastructure,” a White Helmets representative told the Washington Post’s SARAH DADOUCH and LEO SANDS.

Biden has already approved of U.S. officials offering assistance in the region. “Our teams are deploying quickly to begin to support Turkish search and rescue efforts and address the needs of those injured and displaced by the earthquake,” he said in a Monday statement. “U.S.-supported humanitarian partners are also responding to the destruction in Syria.”

KIEREN BARNES, Mercy Corps’ director for Syria, said in a Monday statement that the humanitarian group “is conducting rapid needs assessments and will be responding to the earthquake in northwest Syria, and we are aiming at resuming our emergency water, sanitation and hygiene activities as soon as possible.”

DRONE FACTORY: Russia and Iran are moving ahead with plans to build a facility in Russia that can make at least 6,000 Iranian-designed drones.

“A high-level Iranian delegation flew to Russia in early January to visit the planned site for the factory and hammer out details to get the project up-and-running. The two countries are aiming to build a faster drone that could pose new challenges for Ukrainian air defenses,” the Wall Street Journal’s DION NISSENBAUM and WARREN STROBEL reported Sunday. “Iran is working with Russia to develop a Shahed-136 model expected to include a new engine to make it fly faster and farther.”

National Security Council spokesperson JOHN KIRBY wouldn’t confirm that report when asked by NatSec Daily Monday, but did say “there's no doubt in our mind that Russia still continues to get drones from Iran, that they're using these drones to kill innocent Ukrainians and that, and this is a this is an equally significant concern, that Russia may be looking for ways to add to improve Iranian capabilities in the Middle East region.”

IT’S MONDAY: Thanks for tuning in to NatSec Daily. This space is reserved for the top U.S. and foreign officials, the lawmakers, the lobbyists, the experts and the people like you who care about how the natsec sausage gets made. Aim your tips and comments at [email protected] and [email protected], and follow us on Twitter at @alexbward and @mattberg33.

While you’re at it, follow the rest of POLITICO’s national security team: @nahaltoosi, @woodruffbets, @politicoryan, @PhelimKine, @laraseligman, @connorobrienNH, @paulmcleary, @leehudson, @magmill95, @johnnysaks130, @ErinBanco and @Lawrence_Ukenye.

With the 2024 presidential election kicking off already (we know, we know … ) we’ve decided to replace “Flashpoints” with a section dedicated to the madness. It’ll be a space for great reporting on the natsec aspects of the race and, possibly, NatSec Daily interviews with the candidates themselves. Drop us a line to give us feedback on this section. 

TRUMP THE DOVE PT. 2?: Trump wants to distinguish himself from fellow GOP nominee hopefuls by being the so-called “dove” among hawks like Florida governor RON DeSANTIS and NIKKI HALEY.

“Trump is the peace president and he’s the first president in two generations to not start a war, whereas if you look at DeSantis’ congressional record, he’s voted for more engagement and more military engagement overseas,” a person close to the Trump campaign told our own MEREDITH McGRAW, NATALIE ALLISON and GARY FINEOUT. “Trump is the only person who has said no more funding for the Ukraine war. I haven’t heard Nikki Haley say anything like that... Pompeo or Pence? Where do they stand on Ukraine?”

We’ve been here before. During the Trump-HILLARY CLINTON match up, there was much uninformed talk about how Trump wasn’t the war candidate while the former secretary of State was. Trump, of course, went on to give the military he led “total authorization” to ramp up drone strikes, send thousands of more troops in Afghanistan and Iraq before wanting them out, killed the head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and threatened North Korea with “fire and fury” before launching an ill-fated diplomatic foray.

Republican foreign policy hands quietly say that Trump’s reticence to support Ukraine may backfire on him, especially as it will feed into the narrative that he’s too cozy with Russian President VLADIMIR PUTIN.

But what this strategy indicates is that there will be genuine debates and differences within the party on America’s future natsec direction.

RANSOM-WHERE? RIGHT HERE: Italy’s cybersecurity officials sounded the alarm yesterday on a large-scale campaign to spread ransomware on thousands of computer servers across Europe and North America, our own ELENA GIORDANO reports.

In Europe, France, Finland and Italy have been hit the hardest. There’ve also been a high number of targets in the U.S. and Canada, Italy’s National Cybersecurity Agency warned, citing Italian news outlet ANSA.

The attack targets vulnerabilities in VMware ESXi technology that were previously discovered, but still leave many organizations vulnerable to intrusion by hackers. It’s estimated that thousands of computer servers have been compromised around the world, and analysts expect the number to grow.

NEW HIRES: Hypersonic aircraft maker Hermeus has hired its first in-house lobbyist, our friends over at Morning Defense (for Pros!) report.

The company tapped MARIA VEKLICH, a former Senate Appropriations defense subcommittee staffer and Pennsylvania Rep. JOE SESTAK aide, according to a disclosure. More recently she was the director of government affairs at Pratt & Whitney.

Meanwhile, AM General recently hired a lobbyist, per another disclosure. The vehicle manufacturer signed TODD PUTNAM as its first company lobbyist. He previously lobbied for Viasat.

‘A COUNTER-INTELLIGENCE GOLDMINE’: Rep. JIM HIMES (D-Conn.), the House Intelligence Committee’s new top Democrat, is astounded at how clumsy China has been about the spy balloon.

“I would hope that all of my colleagues would not have been surprised that the Chinese are aggressive on collection,” Himes told our own JOHN SAKELLARIADIS in Weekly Cybersecurity. “What is surprising here is just the sheer foolishness of what they did.”

If anything, Himes is grateful that China gave the U.S. a close look at its spying technology.

“The fact that we now own the balloon means we’re going to get our understanding of their technology updated," said Himes. “I’m fascinated to see where the semiconductors on this thing came from.”

Recovering the balloon could be a “counter-intelligence gold mine,” he said.

‘AHEAD OF SCHEDULE’: The training of Ukrainian troops on the Patriot missile system is “ahead of schedule,” according to a House Armed Services Committee aide who wasn’t authorized to speak publicly about the staff delegation trip.

The staffer, who traveled to Fort Sill in Oklahoma last week, said that the couple dozen Ukrainian soldiers are about 1-2 weeks ahead of where students in such a course would be at this point. One reason is that they’re all familiar with Soviet-era systems, giving them at least a point of reference when working on a more automated platform like the Patriots.

The Ukrainian students are spending 10-12 hours a day in classroom settings, simulators and in-field demonstrations. Their instruction is in English, which has to be translated into Ukrainian and then re-translated back into English if a student has a question for the instructor.

The training is going quickly enough, this person said, that some are considering “about adding to the pipeline,” but one test will be how successful these students are when they put what they’ve learned into action on the battlefield.

The HASC aide went to Fort Sill as part of Chair Rep. MIKE ROGERS’s (R-Ala.) effort to provide rigorous oversight on the train and assist mission. The next visit to the fort is yet to be determined.

THREAT INFLATION: China is really upset the U.S. blew up its spy balloon on Saturday (yes, there’s even more balloon coverage in NatSec Daily).

“The United States turned a deaf ear and insisted on indiscriminate use of force against the civilian airship that was about to leave the United States airspace, obviously overreacted and seriously violated the spirit of international law and international practice,” Vice Foreign Minister XIE FENG said Monday, as reported by the Associated Press’ EMILY WANG FUJIYAMA.

China lodged a formal complaint with the U.S. Embassy in China, Xie added.

Xie continued Beijing’s line that the balloon was for civilian, and not military or intelligence, purposes. U.S. officials and experts have said the size of the balloon and the technology on it are a far cry from, say, a weather-tracking device.

— DAVE HANKE was named the House China Committee’s majority staff director, and CHAS MORRISON will serve as policy director. Hanke is an alum of Sen. JOHN CORNYN’s (R-Texas) office, and Morrison has been a long-time staffer to panel chair Rep. MIKE GALLAGHER (R-Wis.).

— KATE GOULD starts next week as lead foreign affairs officer covering the United Arab Emirates for the State Department’s Bureau of Democracy, Labor and Human Rights. She previously was deputy chief of staff and human rights and national security adviser for Rep. RO KHANNA (D-Calif.).

— Retired Army Gen. RICHARD CLARKE was elected to the General Dynamics board of directors.

— AMY MACKINNON, Foreign Policy: The Fighter

— YAIR ROSENBERG, The Atlantic: Unsettling the West Bank

— ERIK JOHNSON, War On The Rocks: Stop Saying the Military has an Innovation Problem

— The Wilson Center's International Change and Security Program, 9:30 a.m.: Water and Conflict: Updates from the Russia-Ukraine War

— The Brookings Institution, 2 p.m.:The Russia-Ukraine War: Year two and strategic consequences

— Georgetown University, 4 p.m.:Book discussion on "First Casualty: The Untold Story of the CIA Mission to Avenge 9/11"

— The East-West Center in Washington and the Sasakawa Peace Foundation, 4 p.m.:Japan Matters for America/America Matters for Japan

Have a natsec-centric event coming up? Transitioning to a new defense-adjacent or foreign policy-focused gig? Shoot me an email at [email protected] to be featured in the next edition of the newsletter.

Thanks to our editor, Heidi Vogt, whose enthusiasm for our reporting burst long ago.

We also thank our producer, Jeffrey Horst, whose patience with us could never be deflated.