Bennet pushes Apple, Google to drop TikTok

BY CAITLYN KIM COLORADO PUBLIC RADIO

Colorado Sen. Michael Bennet shares the same national security concerns as many other lawmakers over the popular, Chinese-owned social media app TikTok.

And he wants to see something done quickly.

Bennet has written to the heads of Apple and Google asking them “to remove TikTok from your respective app stores immediately.” e Democrat, who sits on the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, points out in his letter to Apple’s Tim Cook and Alphabet’s (Google’s parent company) Sundar Pichai, that the app “collects vast and sophisticated data from users, including faceprints and voice prints.”

“TikTok poses a unique concern because Chinese law obligates ByteDance, its Beijing-based parent company, to ‘support, assist and cooperate with state intelligence work.’”

Bennet is worried that the Chinese Communist Party “could weaponize TikTok against the United States.”

TikTok has more than 100 million users in the United States, according to Bennet’s letter.

It’s these same privacy and national security concerns that led Colorado GOP Rep. Ken Buck and Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley to intro- duce a bill last week to ban TikTok in the United States.

“ ey are gathering information on Americans that they will use in a cyber war against America,” Buck told CPR News, noting a user might not think much of giving the company their birth date. But add that to their bank information and other personal information, and the result could be used against them. “And if we don’t seek to protect Americans that don’t understand and don’t understand what the Chinese Communist Party is doing, we’re making a big mistake.” e two GOP lawmakers got a bill passed last Congress banning TikTok on government devices, but it took over a year and half to make it through the process to the president’s desk. is story is from CPR News, a nonpro t news source. Used by permission. For more, and to support Colorado Public Radio, visit cpr.org.

Buck said he’s asking for the platform to be purchased by a U.S. company if it wants to keep operating in the United States.

Going straight to the companies might limit access sooner than a bill through Congress, if they’re interested in complying.

Lawmakers will get a chance to ask TikTok’s chief executive questions next month, when he’s scheduled to testify in front of the House Energy and Commerce Committee.

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“scrape together enough resources” to pay for a motel room — thus ying under the radar of the annual tally, said Jamie Rife, director of the Metro Denver Homeless Initiative.

“We don’t have the data yet, but we (may see) that more people stayed inside or found a couch to stay on,” said Rife, whose organization oversees the count.

January’s numbers may not ocially come out for months, but data from recent years paint a picture of increasing homelessness in the Denver metro area. e newest o cial numbers, based on 2022’s count, suggest any potential rise in homelessness last year wasn’t as drastic as earlier in the coronavirus pandemic. Still, last year’s count showed nearly 1,600 people in the metro area newly became homeless, and that’s just among those who stayed in shelters.

In Douglas County — where homelessness is typically rarer and less visible than in areas closer to Denver — o cials continue new e orts to try to address the problem.

at includes Douglas County’s Homeless Engagement, Assistance and Resource Team of “navigators” who respond to homelessness, working with law enforcement when safety is a concern.

“Overall, our numbers are decreasing each month, and the HEART team is out there taking proactive steps,” said Ti any Marsitto, a supervisor with HEART.

Numbers a mixed bag

Data from recent years suggest homelessness has increased in the Denver metro area — a trend that predates the pandemic but was likely worsened by it, as the coronavirus crisis disrupted people’s housing and employment.

In 2021, compared to 2020, the metro region saw a 99% increase in the number of people new to experiencing homelessness in shelters, according to the Metro Denver Homeless Initiative.

For 2022, the 1,600 people counted as newly homeless in shelters represented a drop from the previous year — but still a 22% increase over 2020.

In Douglas County, o cials quickly presented early data from this year’s count. ey highlighted that the overall number of homeless dropped to 57, down from 78 last year, with the count of unsheltered homeless dropping to 27, down from 50. at number sat at about 28,000 people between July 1, 2021, and June 30, 2022, based on data from agencies that partner in what’s called the Homeless Management Information System.

In 2020, Douglas County’s overall count — sheltered and unsheltered — was 53. In 2019, that number was 14, and in 2018, it was 34. ( e metro area did not count unsheltered homeless in 2021 due to COVID-19 safety concerns.)

Because the Point in Time count generally takes place on a single night and can be a ected by weather or other variables, the Metro Denver Homeless Initiative does not recommend looking at data trends year over year, although the count remains an often-cited statistic.

A more representative count across the metro area involves data from homeless-service providers year round. Between July 1, 2020, and June 30, 2021, more than 32,000 people accessed services or housing support related to homelessness in the metro region, according to the initiative.

Meanwhile, the one-night count marked 6,884 people overall in the metro area in 2022. at compares to 6,104 in 2020.

Rife, the initiative’s director, said COVID was “a big part” of recent data. She noted that more people staying in congregate shelters or participating in certain programs set up in response to COVID might no longer show up in the Homeless Management Information System due to the programs winding down. Some people might be staying outdoors, she said.

“I would not draw the conclusion that homelessness is decreasing,” Rife said.

Homeless trends complicated

During the Feb. 9 news conference, county o cials in Castle Rock directly tied the decrease in Douglas’ one-night homelessness count to the work of the HEART program in recent months.

“Today, there are fewer people living on the streets of Douglas County than there were in 2022. Why? Because every morning three expert resource navigators and three law enforcement o cers wake up on a mission,” the county wrote in a news release.

But large percentage shifts are more likely in Douglas County, where the annual count tends to be in double digits. By contrast, Jefferson and Arapahoe counties’ 2022 tallies each sat at about 500. In Denver, the number was about 4,800.

Also complicating the picture: People without homes don’t always stay in the same area. Many unhoused people say they are not from Douglas County but were there because of a lack of transportation or sweeps pushing them out of other cities. Per Douglas County Sheri ’s O ce data collected on 152 contacts from January to June 2022, only 6% of them were from the Douglas County area, with the remaining either coming from the Denver area or out of state. Resources for the unhoused tend to be concentrated closer to, and within, Denver.

e Point in Time count itself is subject to some variations year to year, Rife noted.

“I would say the PIT as a count is di cult simply because there’s a lot of variances every year because weather contributes to that, di erent volunteers (participate),” Rife said.

In Douglas County, the HEART program launched in 2022 and served as a new tool in this January’s count.

“ is is the rst year we had the HEART and leaned on their knowledge and experience to guide our unsheltered count e orts,” Rand Clark, the county’s community services manager, said in a statement.

Laydon, one of the county’s elected leaders, said his expectation was that the count would have been higher this year in Douglas County in light of HEART’s involvement in the process, so he was glad to see it was lower.

Celebrating success

Regardless of the broad trends, it’s clear that programs like HEART can make a di erence in individuals’ lives.

Marsitto, the supervisor with HEART, shared one success story at the news conference.

In October, the team contacted a 73-year-old woman who had been living in her vehicle for the past year, Marsitto said. After assessing her needs, HEART secured a hotel space for her for two weeks and found a shelter for elderly women that took her in. She has since moved into transitional housing, where she pays monthly rent for her own unit based on her income.

Marsitto said it’s important to hear the stories of unhoused people and understand their needs and the barriers they face.

“ at’s what our team is doing — we’re hearing their story,” Marsitto said.

of the existing zoning and supports the goals and strategies of our Mainstreet master plan.” e application for the Gladys O’Brien House minor development plat will be continued in March. e council also consecutively approved the minor development plat for the Exchange building at the intersection of Mainstreet and Pikes Peak Drive. e parcel, also annexed in 1981, is developed with a two-story commercial building that contains o ces, including where Councilmember Brandi Wilks’ o ce is located.

In addressing prospective con ict

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In addition, the council voted unanimously to approve the sketch and preliminary plan for Compark Village South Tract A for 33 residential lots, approximately 1.2 acres of open space and about 1.24 acres of park space. e park will include play equipment, shade structures, a display garden and a connection to the Regional Trail System.

Other business during the meeting included approving two contracts for more than $500,000 for road development.

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According to Bob Exstrom, from the engineering and public works department, the project will impact about 29 public and private properties. In the nal design phase, Felsburg Holt and Ulleving will provide right-of-way and easement acquisition services.

Construction is tentatively scheduled to start in 2024 and continue through 2025. e council also approved a $133,352 addition to the original contract amount of $941,013 for the Dransfeldt Road Extension nal design contract modi cation.

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