U.S. Representative Tim Walberg is pushing legislation forward that would require online media platform TikTok to change its ownership and put distance between its parent company ByteDance and the Chinese government, or else face a ban in the United States.
Late Thursday, the U.S. House of Representatives Energy & Commerce Committee held a classified hearing to advance legislation that seeks to stop foreign adversaries from “targeting, surveilling, and manipulating Americans through apps like TikTok.”
Congressman Walberg, a member of the committee that approved the bill, said the legislation is required for national security.
“Intelligence officials are in complete agreement that TikTok’s current relationship with the Chinese Communist Party poses a credible national security threat and TikTok has repeatedly been caught lying about the CCP’s access, surveillance of Americans and manipulative behavior.”
On X.com, TikTok’s policy office posted a response.
“This bill is an outright ban of TikTok, no matter how much the authors try to disguise it. 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.”
Rep. Walberg responded in kind, saying TikTok is spreading disinformation regarding the bill.
“(The bill) is simple: they have the option to break ties with the Chinese Communist Party, or they will not be allowed on major app stores in America.”
The legislation, House Resolution 7521, was approved by the committee by a vote of 50 to zero. Titled the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act seeks to target companies controlled by foreign adversaries (China, Iran, Russia, and North Korea) and establish a framework with significant guardrails to prevent similar applications.
The measure now moves to the full U.S. House of Representatives for consideration.
