WASHINGTON, March 11 (Reuters) - U.S. presidential

candidate Donald Trump said on Monday TikTok was a national

security threat but also said a ban on the popular app would

hurt some kids and only strengthen Meta Platforms' ( META )

Facebook, which the Republican has harshly criticized.

Trump reiterated his concerns as lawmakers weigh a bill this

week that would give TikTok's Chinese owner ByteDance about six

months to divest the short video app used by 170 million

Americans.

The U.S. House of Representatives is set to vote on

Wednesday under fast-track rules that require two-thirds of

members to vote "yes" for the measure to win passage.

TikTok told Congress late Monday in a letter seen by Reuters

it is "not owned or controlled by the Chinese government" and

argued if the company was sold another buyer would not continue

TikTok's $1.5 billion effort to protect U.S. data.

"Ironically, U.S. user data could be less secure under a

divestment scheme," the company said.

The FBI, Justice Department and Office of the Director of

National Intelligence plan to hold on Tuesday a classified

briefing for House members, two sources said. FBI Director Chris

Wray reiterated concerns about TikTok at a hearing on Monday.

The 2024 Annual Threat Assessment of the U.S. Intelligence

Community released on Monday said "TikTok accounts run by a PRC

propaganda arm reportedly targeted candidates from both

political parties during the U.S. midterm election cycle in

2022."

The Justice Department detailed its security concerns about

TikTok in a document last week first reported by Reuters.

"I'm not looking to make Facebook double the size," Trump

told CNBC on Monday. "And if you if you ban TikTok, (then)

Facebook and others, but mostly Facebook, will be a big

beneficiary. And I think Facebook has been very dishonest."

Trump met recently with investor Jeff Yass, whose investment

firm Susquehanna International Group has a stake in ByteDance,

he confirmed on CNBC. Trump said they did not talk about TikTok.

Meta Platforms ( META ) shares closed down 4.4% at $483.59 on Monday.

The company declined to comment.

'KIDS WILL GO CRAZY'

Trump previously criticized the company now called Meta

Platforms ( META ) for revoking his access to Facebook and Instagram

after removing two of his posts during the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S.

Capitol riot. His accounts were reinstated in February 2023.

Trump also said a TikTok ban could impact young people.

"There are a lot of young kids on TikTok who will go crazy

without it," he said. "There's a lot of good and there's a lot

of bad with TikTok."

Tiktok CEO Shou Zi Chew will visit Capitol Hill later this

week on a previously scheduled trip to talk to senators, a

source briefed on the matter said.

President Joe Biden said last week he would sign the bill

after a committee unanimously approved the measure.

TikTok, which says it has not and would not share U.S. user

data with the Chinese government, argues the House bill amounts

to a ban. It is unclear if China would approve any sale or if

TikTok could be divested in six months.

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise said "we must ensure the

Chinese government cannot weaponize TikTok against American

users and our government through data collection and

propaganda."

The bill would give ByteDance 165 days to divest TikTok. If

it failed to do so, app stores operated by Apple ( AAPL ),

Alphabet's Google and others could not legally offer

TikTok or provide Web hosting services to ByteDance-controlled

applications.

In 2020, Trump sought to ban TikTok and Chinese-owned WeChat

but was blocked by the courts.

The app is popular and getting legislation approved by both

the House and Senate in an election year may be difficult. Last

month, Biden's re-election campaign joined TikTok.

Trump's campaign has not joined TikTok.

(Reporting by Susan Heavey and David Shepardson in Washington;

Editing by Bernadette Baum, Franklin Paul, Matthew Lewis and

Lincoln Feast.)