Citing national security concerns, congressional lawmakers are not giving up on their efforts to pressure ByteDance, the Chinese owner of TikTok, to divest the popular social media platform in order for TikTok to continue operating in the U.S.
On Thursday, the House Committee on Energy and Commerce voted unanimously, 50-0, on a new bipartisan bill, known as the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act. The bill would block social media applications controlled by U.S. adversaries and deemed a national security threat to users from operating in the country, unless they sever their ties with their foreign owners. If the bill becomes law, it would force ByteDance to divest TikTok.
The bill also has the blessing of the White House.
Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.), the chair of the Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party and one of the authors of the legislation, described TikTok as a threat to U.S. national security during a press conference introducing the bill Wednesday.
“If you value your personal freedom and privacy online, if you care about America’s national security at home, and, yes, even if you want TikTok to stick around in the United States — this bill offers the only real step towards each of these goals,” Gallagher said.
TikTok has come under scrutiny from U.S. politicians multiple times over a legal requirement for Chinese companies and those operating in China to turn over data to the government if requested. The company has repeatedly pushed back against claims that it poses a risk to U.S. security.
If Congress approves the bill, ByteDance would have six months to divest TikTok to avoid the app being banned from online stores and web hosting services in the U.S.
Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.), who worked with Gallagher to write the bill, explained that the aim is not to restrict TikTok.
“We implore ByteDance to sell TikTok so that its American users can enjoy their dance videos, their bad lip-synch, everything else that goes with TikTok,” Krishnamoorthi said.
TikTok, though, said the “bill is an outright ban of TikTok, no matter how much the authors try to disguise it.”
A spokesperson for the platform told HuffPost: “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.”
The Biden administration has previously tried to pressure TikTok to part ways with its Chinese ownership, The Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. reportedly warned the platform in 2023 that it would have to either be sold to an American company or risk getting a nationwide ban. However, talks between CFIUS and TikTok appear to have stalled in the past year.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre praised the bill on Wednesday as “important,” saying the administration’s focus is on ensuring that platforms like TikTok are not in the hands of those who want to harm Americans.
“We welcome it,” Jean-Pierre said. “We would want to see this bill get done so it can get to 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 reach out to voters ahead of November’s general election.