The wildly popular short-form video platform TikTok, owned by Chinese tech giant ByteDance, faces an existential threat in the form of a newly introduced draft bill in the U.S. Congress. This legislation, with bipartisan support, could potentially lead to a complete ban of TikTok within American borders.
The bill, unveiled on Tuesday, throws down a gauntlet for ByteDance. It demands that the company fully divest itself of TikTok, severing all ownership ties. Failure to comply within a tight timeframe – a little over five months from the bill's enactment – would trigger a ban, effectively removing the app from app stores and web-hosting services across the United States.
This legislation, spearheaded by Congressman Mike Gallagher (R-WI), Chair of the House Select Committee on China, and Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL), represents a significant escalation in the ongoing political tug-of-war surrounding TikTok. The bill specifically targets "foreign adversary-controlled applications," highlighting concerns about national security risks allegedly posed by TikTok and other ByteDance-developed apps.
"America cannot afford to have our dominant media platform controlled by a hostile foreign power like China," declared Congressman Gallagher. Echoing his sentiment, Congressman Krishnamoorthi emphasized that the bill would empower the President to wield new tools to "force these dangerous apps to sever ties and safeguard American privacy and security."
The proposed legislation defines "control by a foreign adversary" as a situation where a business entity is at least 20% owned, directly or indirectly, by a foreign adversary. Alternatively, control can be established if the entity's headquarters are located within a foreign adversary nation or subject to their direction.
Predictably, TikTok vehemently opposes the bill. A spokesperson for the platform denounced it as an "outright ban," arguing that it would constitute a blatant violation of First Amendment rights and disproportionately impact a staggering 170 million American users and the livelihoods of the five million small businesses leveraging TikTok in the U.S.
This development comes on the heels of another piece of legislation introduced on the same day. Authored by Congressman Frank Pallone Jr. (D-NJ) and Congresswoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA), this separate bill seeks to tighten regulations on data brokers who sell user information to foreign adversaries or entities under their control.
The simultaneous introduction of these bills underscores the growing bipartisan concern in the U.S. regarding the potential national security risks associated with data collection practices by foreign-owned technology companies. Whether a full-fledged ban on TikTok materializes remains to be seen, but this legislation undoubtedly sets the stage for a contentious debate with significant ramifications for the future of the social media landscape in the United States.
