U.S. Senators Bill Cassidy (R-LA), Jon Husted (R-OH), Susan Collins (R-ME), and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) have raised concerns about the acquisition of Epic! Creations, an educational tool used by millions of American students, by TAL Education Group, a Chinese company. The senators addressed their concerns in a letter to U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who chairs the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS). They called for a review of the transaction to ensure that Americans’ private data is protected from foreign adversaries.
“We believe that this acquisition by TAL, which is subject to Chinese data laws that grant broad access of user data to the CCP, represents a significant threat to American children and educational sovereignty,” wrote the senators. “We cannot now allow China to make inroads into our elementary school systems to indoctrinate a young generation of American students.”
The letter notes that Epic was sold earlier this year during bankruptcy proceedings to TAL Education Group, which is headquartered in Beijing. The senators expressed concern that Chinese data laws could allow the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) access to personal information of American students.
“As a Chinese company, TAL is subject to China’s National Intelligence Law and Data Security Law, meaning that TAL’s assets and data are at the disposal of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). This raises serious data privacy concerns. We should not allow adversarial foreign governments to access the private data of any American citizen, much less that of our nation’s children. Data privacy concerns have justified actions by CFIUS in the past, including forced divestitures of Grindr and Beijing Kunlun Tech in 2019, StayNTouch and Shiji in 2020, and iCarbonX and PatientsLikeMe in 2019. TAL’s acquisition of Epic should undergo similar scrutiny.”
The senators also warned about potential editorial control over Epic’s digital library. “In addition to these data privacy concerns, we fear that allowing TAL to have editorial control of Epic’s vast digital library will turn this useful learning tool into a CCP influence operation directed at American children. Epic’s 40,000 books, videos, and quizzes are trusted educational resources and utilized by students and teachers in 94 percent of American elementary schools. At a time when parents are calling for and deserve a voice in their children’s education curriculum, all risks to potential CCP influence on educational tools must be investigated.”
They referenced previous U.S. efforts against CCP influence operations: “The United States has repeatedly confronted influence operations directed by the Chinese Communist Party. Over the past several years, America has cracked down on China’s influence in our nation’s colleges and universities by shutting down dozens of Confucius Institutes. We cannot now allow China to make inroads into our elementary school systems to indoctrinate a young generation of American students.”
The letter requests specific information regarding whether CFIUS has initiated or completed a review of this transaction and asks for details about how student data might be accessed or influenced under CCP jurisdiction.
The Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee oversees federal policy related to public health, education issues, workforce matters and retirement programs (official website). Bill Cassidy serves as chair of this committee during the 119th Congress (official website). The committee plays an important role influencing regulations affecting health and education across the country (official website) and provides oversight for agencies such as FDA and NIH (official website).
The senators concluded their letter with an offer for a classified briefing on CFIUS deliberations if needed.
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