Bipartisan legislation to ban social media giant Tiktok from the United States is gaining momentum in Congress following the incursion of a Chinese spy balloon into U.S. airspace.
Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), who originally introduced the legislation in December, said that it was vital the United States work quickly to prevent the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from stealing more Americans’ data and further undermining U.S. national security.
“I’m proud to continue to lead the bipartisan fight in Congress to ban TikTok, as well as other social media companies that are controlled by the CCP, so long as they are under dangerous foreign ownership.”
Rubio reintroduced the legislation with bipartisan support this month.
The legislation, titled “Averting the National Threat of Internet Surveillance, Oppressive Censorship and Influence, and Algorithmic Learning by the Chinese Communist Party Act,” or “ANTI-SOCIAL CCP Act,” would block and prohibit transactions from any social media company in or under the influence of China, Russia, and several other foreign countries of concern unless they fully divest of dangerous foreign ownership.
TikTok has come under fire from national security experts for its apparent ties to the CCP through its parent company ByteDance.
CCP law dictates that all companies in China, including ByteDance, must make their data available to the regime on request, and the company’s access to TikTok user data has sparked significant security concerns.
Such concerns have been exacerbated in recent months by the regime’s efforts to spy on the United States as well as a report that found that ByteDance employees in China used TikTok user data to stalk American journalists critical of the company’s ties to the CCP.
Sen. Angus King (I-Maine) joined those backing the bill in the Senate on Feb. 10, saying that the threat posed to U.S. national security by China-owned entities could not be overstated.
“Make no mistake, every ‘private’ enterprise in China has direct ties and on-demand information-sharing requirements with the national government,” King said. “The Chinese Communist Party’s potential to access TikTok user data and exploit American’s private information is an unacceptable national security risk.
“The company must either divest from dangerous foreign ownership, or we will take the necessary steps to protect Americans from potential foreign spying and misinformation operations.”
Gallagher said that he was grateful the legislation received increased bipartisan support and would look for more ways to increase bipartisan consensus on the issue going forward.
“I’m glad the Senate companion to my ANTI-SOCIAL CCP Act is now bipartisan,” Gallagher said in an email.
“The dam is breaking on TikTok and other apps like it, and I hope to build on this momentum in the coming weeks and expand bipartisan support for this bill in the House, too.”
King said that U.S. national security depended on the nation’s ability to keep essential online platforms safe from the machinations of adversarial regimes.
“Social media platforms have become essential parts of our daily lives,” King said. “Millions of Americans depend on these networks to keep in touch with loved ones, stay up to date on [the] news, or run their small business.
“We cannot allow hostile governments to use our social media habits as a Trojan Horse into our networks.”
