The House of Representatives is expected to vote Wednesday on bipartisan legislation relating to the Chinese-owned app TikTok.
Reps. Mike Gallagher, R-Wis., and Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Ill., introduced the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act last Tuesday. Gallagher and Krishnamoorthi are the chairman and ranking member, respectively, of the House Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party.
“My No. 1 take-away is that this is the first true attempt at a legislative solution to the TikTok problem that has a legitimate chance of succeeding,” Jeff Smith, director of The Heritage Foundation’s Asian Studies Center, told The Daily Signal in an emailed statement. (The Daily Signal is the news outlet of The Heritage Foundation.)
“We know TikTok is a propaganda and espionage asset for the Chinese Communist Party. That’s why we banned it on government phones many years ago,” Smith said. “Addressing the threat nationwide has proven more challenging, as TikTok advocates have mounted legislative and legal challenges to all previous attempts to address this problem. This appears to be the first legislative solution with a real chance of becoming law and surviving challenges in court”
According to a news release from the House Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party, “The bill prevents app store availability or web-hosting services in the U.S. for ByteDance-controlled applications, including TikTok, unless the application severs ties to entities like ByteDance that are subject to the control of a foreign adversary, as defined by Congress in Title 10.”
“In addition, the bill creates a process for the president to designate certain, specifically defined social media applications that are subject to the control of a foreign adversary—per Title 10—and pose a national security risk,” the news release explained.
TikTok did not respond to The Daily Signal’s request for comment about the legislation, but in a statement on X, TikTok Policy said:
This bill is an outright ban of TikTok, no matter how much the authors try to disguise it. This legislation will trample the First Amendment rights of 170 million Americans and deprive 5 million small businesses of a platform they rely on to grow and create jobs.
Ahead of the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s vote on the legislation Thursday afternoon, a message about the legislation appeared for users that said “Stop a TikTok shutdown,” according to The Hill, which shared a screenshot of the message.
“Congress is planning a total ban of TikTok,” the message said. “Speak up now—before your government strips 170 million Americans of their Constitutional right to free expression.”
“This will damage millions of businesses, destroy the livelihoods of countless creators across the country, and deny artists an audience,” the screenshot also said. “Let Congress know what TikTok means to you and tell them to vote NO.”
The House Energy and Commerce Committee advanced the legislation in a 50-0 vote on Thursday.
TikTok Policy posted a statement to X about the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s vote:
This legislation has a predetermined outcome: a total ban of TikTok in the United States. The government is attempting to strip 170 million Americans of their Constitutional right to free expression. This will damage millions of businesses, deny artists an audience, and destroy the livelihoods of countless creators across the country.
President Joe Biden expressed his support for the legislation, telling reporters on Friday, “If they pass it, I’ll sign it.” Biden’s presidential campaign, however, is on TikTok and shared its first video there on Feb. 11, ABC News reported.
“For years, we’ve stood by and watched as ByteDance, a Chinese-owned company, has collected the personal data of American citizens without any real consequences,” Jake Denton, research associate in The Heritage Foundation’s Tech Policy Center, told The Daily Signal in a written statement. “They’ve been allowed to gather sensitive information like our browsing history, our location, and even our biometric identifiers, all while maintaining close ties to the Chinese Communist Party.
“Even more alarming, it has become abundantly clear that this data is flowing directly back to China, where it can be accessed and potentially used for nefarious purposes by the Chinese government,” Denton said. “This blatant violation of American privacy cannot be allowed to continue, and the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act is a crucial step in putting an end to this egregious behavior.”
Denton added:
It’s time for our lawmakers to take a strong stance against the growing digital threats posed by our foreign adversaries. We must send a clear message that we will not tolerate any attempts to undermine our national security or the privacy rights of our people.
TikTok did not respond to The Daily Signal’s request for comment about Biden’s promise to sign the legislation or the expected House vote this week.
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