Congress Explores New Bill To Force A Sale Or Ban Of TikTok In America

TIKTOK: A significant House committee will vote on a new bill on Thursday that could outlaw TikTok on all US phones and tablets, indicating ongoing bipartisan efforts to address national security concerns about the well-known app.

The proposed law would ban TikTok from US app stores unless the social media network, which over 170 million Americans use, is promptly split off from its Chinese-linked parent firm, ByteDance. The House Energy and Commerce Committee is currently considering the measure.

Congress Explores New Bill To Force A Sale Or Ban Of TikTok In America

If adopted, the bill would give ByteDance 165 days or more than five months to sell TikTok. App store owners like Apple and Google could make it if sold by that date. The measure also proposes similar restrictions on other apps “controlled by foreign adversary companies.”

It is the most forceful legislation targeting TikTok to be introduced in Congress since company CEO Shou Chew testified to lawmakers last year that the app poses no harm to Americans.

The bill was presented earlier this week with bipartisan backing by Wisconsin Republican Rep. Mike Gallagher, who chairs a House select committee on China, and Illinois Democratic Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, the committee’s ranking member. The legislation has the support of the White House and House Speaker Mike Johnson, while its chances in the Senate are uncertain.

TikTok did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

For years, US authorities have warned that China’s intelligence legislation might allow Beijing to snoop on the user data TikTok collects, potentially requiring ByteDance to hand up the information.

Policymakers are concerned that the Chinese government may exploit the personal information to identify intelligence targets or to assist widespread disinformation campaigns, which might disrupt elections and cause other upheaval.

So yet the US government has not publicly produced any evidence that the Chinese government acquired TikTok user data, and cybersecurity experts believe it is a hypothetical but serious risk.

Congress Explores New Bill To Force A Sale Or Ban Of TikTok In America

They also claim governments can buy massive amounts of personal data from data brokers and easily hack individual phones using commercial spyware.

State and federal politicians have banned TikTok from government-owned devices but have repeatedly failed to expand prohibitions to American devices.

Last year, Senate senators suggested legislation to crack down on TikTok, but there were fears that it would give the executive branch too much power.

Efforts to prohibit TikTok began with the Trump administration, which used a series of executive orders to force app shops to stop offering TikTok and force ByteDance to split out the company. Those attempts also stopped due to legal objections, prompting TikTok to negotiate with the US government about how to protect Americans’ data. Despite TikTok’s decision to store US customer data on US-based servers managed by IT behemoth Oracle, these discussions continue.

Last year, a federal judge in Montana temporarily blocked a statewide TikTok ban, claiming that the measure was overly broad and threatened Montanan users’ First Amendment rights to access information through the app.

Congress Explores New Bill To Force A Sale Or Ban Of TikTok In America

According to a legislative brief distributed by the supporters of the House measure under consideration this week, the plan does not prohibit expression.

According to the fact sheet, “It is focused entirely on foreign adversary control—not the content of speech being shared.”

However, according to the American Civil Liberties Union, the bill’s overall effect would still jeopardize Americans’ free expression rights.

“We’re deeply disappointed that our leaders are once again attempting to trade our First Amendment rights for cheap political points during an election year,” said Jenna Leventoff, the ACLU’s senior policy counsel. “Despite the bill authors’ claims that banning TikTok isn’t about stifling speech, there’s no doubt it would do so. We strongly encourage legislators to vote against this unlawful bill.

SOURCE – (CNN)