TikTok Bans: Scrutiny Escalates as House Panel Advances Latest Bill

TikTok, a popular short-form video app from Chinese tech company ByteDance, is coming under closer scrutiny from US lawmakers as national security concerns over the app continue to mount.

On Wednesday, the House Foreign Affairs Committee voted to introduce a bill that House Republicans say would authorize President Joe Biden’s administration to ban TikTok statewide. The committee was expected to pass the bill, known as Deterring America’s Technology Adversaries Act, because the committee’s chairman, Republican Rep. Michael McCaul, introduced the bill last week.

During Tuesday’s debate on the law, McCaul called TikTok a “spy balloon” in children’s phones. “If it’s too dangerous to be on our phones as members of Congress, I think it’s too dangerous to be on our kids’ phones,” he said.

Democrats said the legislation is being rushed, fueled by fear and speculation, and could harm other businesses outside of TikTok. The American Civil Liberties Union opposes the bill, saying in a blog post that HR 1153 would violate freedom of speech and expression. The committee passed the bill by a 24-16 vote along party lines, paving the way for a House vote.

While the bill is far from becoming law, the rapid advancement of the legislation underscores how momentum is building for the US to ban TikTok. Legislators and the US government have continued to raise concerns about what data TikTok collects and shares about its 100 million monthly American users.

In a statement released Wednesday, TikTok said a US ban would be a “ban on the export of American culture and values ​​to the more than 1 billion people who use the service worldwide.”

“We are disappointed that this hasty legislation is moving forward, despite its significant negative impact on the freedom of expression of the millions of Americans who use and love TikTok.” TikTok tweeted.

More and more calls to ban TikTok

TikTok has repeatedly said it doesn’t share data with the Chinese government, but the company’s comments haven’t been enough to reassure lawmakers. In November, FBI Director Christopher Wray said the app could be used to “control the data collection of millions of users, or control the recommendation algorithm, which could be used to affect operations if they so choose, or to control software on millions of devices”. FCC Commissioner Brian Carr last year App called a “sophisticated monitoring tool”. In December, Forbes reported that TikTok fired employees who were tracking the physical locations of journalists covering the company.

The White House on Monday gave government employees a deadline to wipe TikTok off federal devices. Federal authorities have 30 days to remove the social media app from phones and systems and ban the devices from accessing TikTok over the internet, according to a Feb. 27 memo from the Office of Management and Budget.

“These guidelines are part of the government’s continued commitment to securing our digital infrastructure and protecting the security and privacy of the American people,” said Chris DeRusha, the OMB’s federal information security officer. Reuters previously reported the 30-day period.

In December, US lawmakers banned the app from government devices. Other countries – including Canadathe EU and Taiwan – have taken similar steps.

The ban could also escalate already growing tensions between China and the United States. On Tuesday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Mao Ning said in a news conference that the US “is stretching the concept of national security and abusing state power to suppress foreign companies.”

“How insecure can the world’s supreme superpower fear a young people’s favorite app like this?” she said.

TikTok is hugely popular in the US, especially among teenagers, and competes with platforms like Facebook-owned Instagram and Google-owned YouTube. The app’s rising popularity has only fueled fears about what data TikTok collects. According to a 2022 survey published by the Pew Research Center, about 67% of teens in the US say they have used TikTok.

US politicians, including those in the Trump administration, have so far failed to ban TikTok. US lawmakers have proposed other legislation to address the app’s national security concerns.

Meanwhile, TikTok has met with US lawmakers and told them about a $1.5 billion plan to reorganize TikTok’s US business, the Wall Street Journal reported in January. TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew is scheduled to testify before the House Energy and Trade Committee on March 23.