Rubio Introduces Bipartisan Legislation To Ban TikTok
WASHINGTON, D.C. (FLV) – A bipartisan group of lawmakers have introduced legislation that would ban the popular app TikTok in the United States “to protect Americans from the threat posed by certain foreign adversaries.”
The bill was introduced by Sen. Marco Rubio, R-FL, Rep. Mike Gallagher, R-WI, Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-IL.
The Averting the National Threat of Internet Surveillance, Oppressive Censorship and Influence, and Algorithmic Learning by the Chinese Communist Party Act (ANTI-SOCIAL CCP Act) would protect Americans by blocking and prohibiting all transactions from any social media company in, or under the influence of, China, Russia, and several other foreign countries of concern.
TikTok reportedly has more than 100 million users in the United States and is owned by the Chinese-based company ByteDance.
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. 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.
Sen. Marco Rubio, R-FL
Rubio has previously said that videos uploaded to the platform are made to “look like news stories” to target voters and interfere in American elections.
“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,” said Krishnamoorthi.
Republican governors have already banned TikTok from government-issued devices in South Dakota, South Carolina, Maryland, and Texas.
FBI Director Chris Wray expressed concerns that China had the ability to control the app’s recommendation algorithm, “which allows them to manipulate content, and if they want to, to use it for influence operations.”
“All of these things are in the hands of a government that doesn’t share our values, and that has a mission that’s very much at odds with what’s in the best interests of the United States. That should concern us,” Wray said.
