Some members of Congress are advocating for legislation that would ban the popular social media platform TikTok in the U.S.
Those in favor of the ban argue that the social media site is dangerous to American security given that the app is owned by the Chinese company ByteDance, which, many argue, could be controlled by the Chinese Communist Party. Continued use of the app, they say, could put Americans’ data at risk.
In the omnibus spending bill that passed in December, Congress included language banning TikTok’s use on government-issued phones and devices, following the lead of several states that enacted similar bans. Some lawmakers, however, want to push the issue further by banning TikTok’s use in the U.S. entirely.
Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), the leading Republican on the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, introduced the Averting the National Threat of Internet Surveillance, Oppressive Censorship and Influence, and Algorithmic Learning by the Chinese Communist Party (ANTI-SOCIAL CCP) Act, which would block and prohibit social media activity from any company in or under the influence of China, Russia or a handful of other countries that the U.S. considers to be a security threat.
“The federal government has yet to take a single meaningful action to protect American users from the threat of TikTok,” Rubio said in a statement. “This isn’t about creative videos — this is about an app that is collecting data on tens of millions of American children and adults every day. We know it’s used to manipulate feeds and influence elections. We know it answers to the People’s Republic of China. There is no more time to waste on meaningless negotiations with a CCP-puppet company. It is time to ban Beijing-controlled TikTok for good.”
Reps. Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.) and Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.) introduced companion legislation in the House. “The bipartisan ANTI-SOCIAL CCP Act is a strong step in protecting our nation from the nefarious digital surveillance and influence operations of totalitarian regimes,” Krishnamoorthi said in a statement. “Recent revelations surrounding the depth of TikTok’s ties to the CCP highlight the urgency of protecting Americans from these risks before it’s too late.”
Gallagher, who was recently appointed as chair of the newly formed House Select Committee on China, likened TikTok’s addictive appeal to “digital fentanyl” in an interview on NBC’s Meet the Press. “We have to ask whether we want the CCP to control what is on the cusp of becoming the most powerful media company in America,” he said.
FBI Director Christopher Wray also recently voiced concern about the app. “We do have national security concerns at least from the FBI’s end about TikTok,” Wray told members of the House Committee on Homeland Security in a November hearing.
“They include the possibility that the Chinese government could use it to control data collection on millions of users. Or control the recommendation algorithm, which could be used for influence operations if they so chose. Or to control software on millions of devices, which gives it opportunity to potentially technically compromise personal devices.”
For its part, TikTok’s parent company ByteDance has stated that there is “zero truth” to the claims that it is controlled by the CCP. It also said that it has begun putting Americans’ user data in U.S.-based data centers as part of a larger effort, called Project Texas, to alleviate lawmakers’ concerns about the app.
“The broad goal for Project Texas is to help build trust with users and key stakeholders by improving our systems and controls, but it is also to make substantive progress toward compliance with a final agreement with the U.S. government that will fully safeguard user data and U.S. national security interests,” TikTok’s CEO Shou Zi Chew wrote in a letter to lawmakers.
Former President Donald Trump attempted to ban TikTok in 2020 unless it was sold to an American company such as Microsoft. No sale went through, and Trump faced some criticism for his anti-TikTok stance at the time.
At least eight states — Alabama, Maryland, Nebraska, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah and Texas — have also barred government employees from using TikTok on publicly issued devices, and several Republican governors have said they’ll continue to crack down on use of the app.
Rubio lacks a Democratic co-sponsor for his Senate bill, making it more difficult for the legislation to move forward. The debate about whether or not TikTok is a potential threat, however, is likely to continue.
For more background, see the January 2020 issue of Congressional Digest on “Holding Tech Companies Accountable.”
