Citing national security concerns, members of Congress are giving up on efforts to pressure TikTok's Chinese owner ByteDance to sell the popular social media platform so TikTok can continue operating in the United States. do not have.
On Thursday, the House Energy and Commerce Committee unanimously passed a new bipartisan bill known as the Protecting Americans from Applications Controlled by Foreign Adversaries Act, 50-0. The bill would block social media applications controlled by America's adversaries and deemed national. Users operating in the country pose a security threat unless they sever ties with foreign owners. If the bill becomes law, ByteDance will be forced to sell TikTok.
The bill also has support from the White House.
Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.), chairman of the Chinese Communist Party Select Committee and one of the bill's authors, said at a press conference introducing the bill Wednesday that TikTok is a threat to U.S. national security.
“Whether you value personal freedom and privacy online, if you care about America's national security at home, and, of course, if you want TikTok to stay in the United States, this bill will They offer the only real step towards each goal,” Gallagher said.
TikTok has come under repeated scrutiny from U.S. politicians over legal requirements for Chinese companies and companies operating in China to hand over data to the government upon request. The company has repeatedly pushed back against claims that it poses a risk to U.S. national security.
If Congress approves the bill, ByteDance would have six months to sell TikTok to avoid banning the app from U.S. online stores and web hosting services.
Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.), who co-authored the bill with Gallagher, said the goal is not to restrict TikTok.
“I want ByteDance to sell TikTok so that American users can enjoy all the things that come with it, including dance videos and bad lip syncing,” Krishnamoorthi said.
But TikTok said, “No matter how much the creators try to hide it, this bill is a complete ban on TikTok.”
A spokesperson for the platform told HuffPost: “This bill tramples on the First Amendment rights of 170 million Americans and 5 million small businesses that depend on them for growth and job creation. “It will take away the platform that they have.”
The Biden administration has previously put pressure on TikTok to break with Chinese ownership, with the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States demanding that the platform be sold to a U.S. company in 2023 or otherwise closed nationwide. He reportedly warned them that they were at risk of being banned. However, negotiations between CFIUS and TikTok appear to have stalled over the past year.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on Wednesday praised the bill as “important” and said the administration's focus is to ensure platforms like TikTok do not fall into the hands of those who seek to harm Americans. He said that the goal is to do so.
“We welcome you,” Jean-Pierre said. “We hope to see this bill completed so it can reach the president's desk.”
Meanwhile, the official campaign of President Joe Biden, who is widely expected to win the Democratic presidential nomination, recently joined the platform in an effort to appeal to voters ahead of the November general election.
