Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., announced Tuesday bipartisan legislation that would ban TikTok in the U.S.
TikTok's parent company is Chinese ByteDance, which is required by Chinese law to make the app's data available to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
"The federal government has yet to take a single meaningful action to protect American users from the threat of TikTok. 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,” Rubio said via a press release.
"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."
FBI Director Christopher Wray and FCC Commissioners have stated the risks of TikTok being used to spy on Americans.
The bipartisan legislation to ban TikTok from operating in the U.S. is known as the Averting the National Threat of Internet Surveillance, Oppressive Censorship and Influence, and Algorithmic Learning by the Chinese Communist Party Act or ANTI-SOCIAL CCP Act.
Reps. Mike Gallagher, R-Wis., and Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Ill., introduced companion legislation in the House.
"TikTok is digital fentanyl that’s addicting Americans, collecting troves of their data, and censoring their news. It’s also an increasingly powerful media company that’s owned by ByteDance, which ultimately reports to the Chinese Communist Party — America’s foremost adversary," Gallagher said in the release.
"Allowing the app to continue to operate in the U.S. would be like allowing the U.S.S.R. to buy up the New York Times, Washington Post, and major broadcast networks during the Cold War. No country with even a passing interest in its own security would allow this to happen, which is why it's time to ban TikTok and any other CCP-controlled app before it’s too late."
The legislation would protect Americans by prohibiting all transactions from any social media company in or under the influence of China, Russia, and several other foreign countries known to be of concern.
Krishnamoorthi also laid into the CCP and its potential on young Americans.
"At a time when the Chinese Communist Party and our other adversaries abroad are seeking any advantage they can find against the United States through espionage and mass surveillance, it is imperative that we do not allow hostile powers to potentially control social media networks that could be easily weaponized against us," Krishnamoorthi said in the release.
"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. 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."
The bill sponsored by Rubio has been read twice and has been referred to committee.
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