In what was a strong show of bipartisan support, the U.S. Senate passed a bill recently that would restrict the video app TikTok.
Tucked into a $95 billion foreign aid package, the legislation will give TikTok’s Beijing-based parent company, ByteDance, up to a year to sell the app, according to USA Today. If they don’t, it would be banned from U.S. app stores and web hosting companies.
The Senate passed the package 79-18 and the House approved the TikTok portion of the bill 360-58. President Joe Biden is a supporter of the legislation, too.
Congressional lawmakers and federal officials have warned for years that TikTok’s ByteDance ownership might allow the Chinese government to seize Americans’ personal data or shape the app’s video recommendations for political gain.
U.S. Sen. Pete Ricketts of Nebraska, who voted in support of the legislation, said in a statement following the vote that the percentage of TikTok users who regularly get their news from TikTok has doubled since 2020.
The problem, however, is what slant that news has, and it’s entirely being controlled by the Chinese Communist Party…, Ricketts said. We don’t allow this for TV stations or radio stations. You have to be a U.S. citizen to own a TV station or radio station in this country. Why are we letting our greatest adversary in the world on a news platform?
Lawmakers have also expressed concern about data they say links TikTok and other social media apps to higher depression and suicide rates in children.
TikTok representatives say the Chinese government hasn’t requested American users’ data, and that it would not hand it over if the request was made, according to USA Today. They also argue that the legislation violates Americans’ right to free speech, and that banning the app would harm small businesses that rely on the app for exposure.
TikTok may challenge the legislation in court. While former President Donald Trump was in office, a federal judge blocked his attempt to ban the app. More recently, a federal judge in Montana blocked a state ban, saying it likely violates the First Amendment.
Ricketts said the Chinese Communist Party is the greatest threat we face in this nation. They’re fighting smart, trying to undermine us from within and using technology like TikTok to do it.
Like the senator, it is our hope that the legislation sends a clear message that America is not open to China’s influence.
As we expressed before the vote took place, while TikTok may be enjoyable for tens of millions of Americans and helps some people financially, we believe that the app does more harm than good and presents risks we shouldn’t be willing to take.
