U.S. lawmakers introduce new bill to ban TikTok in country

Three U.S. lawmakers have introduced a new bill aimed at banning the Chinese social networking site TikTok from operating in the United States, as lawmakers believe TikTok is passing U.S. user data to the Chinese government.

The legislative initiative states that the new law would block and ban those social networks in the United States that have at least one million monthly active users and are either located in countries considered hostile to the United States, or those countries have significant influence over those social networks. on. The draft specifies that it also includes China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, Cuba, and Venezuela. The bill also specifically states that it would apply to TikTok and its parent company ByteDance.

Ban "Beijing-controlled" TikTok forever

Republican Senator Marco Rubio (who represents the party on the Senate Intelligence Committee) and one of the bill's sponsors in the House, Republican Representative Mike Gallagher of Wisconsin, announced their intention to introduce the bill in an editorial written in a Washington Post last month.

Marco Rubio also issued a statement saying the federal government must take one meaningful step to protect American users from the TikTok threat. "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," he said.

Several Republican governors at the state level have already banned the use of TikTok on devices belonging to government agencies. At least seven states, including Maryland, South Dakota and Utah, have imposed such restrictions in the past two weeks.

TikTok's response

For quite some time now, TikTok has been negotiating a possible deal with the U.S. government that would allow the company to dispel authorities' suspicions about national security and allow the social network to operate within the United States.

TikTok's response to the initiative from U.S. lawmakers was not overdue. TikTok spokeswoman Hilary Mcquaid said she was concerned that some members of Congress, instead of urging the administration to complete a review of how TikTok meets national security requirements, decided to impose a politically motivated ban that would do nothing for the national security of the United States.

"We will continue to brief members of Congress on the plans that have been developed under the oversight of our country's top national security agencies—plans that we are well underway in implementing — to further secure our platform in the United States," McQuaide added.

TikTok denies accusations

TikTok previously stated that the company does not share U.S. user data with the Chinese government, and that the U.S. security team decides who in China can access U.S. user data. TikTok has also previously acknowledged that employees working in China currently have access to user data.

This bill is not the only federal law concerning TikTok. Last year, U.S. lawmakers proposed legislation banning the use of TikTok by federal agencies, and Marco Rubio introduced a bill that would require some app developers to disclose owner information. Another bill introduced this fall would prohibit TikTok from giving its Chinese employees access to U.S. citizens' user data.

The U.S. military, the State Department and the Department of Homeland Security have already restricted the use of TikTok on devices under their control.