Posted on 03/09/2024 4:58:39 AM PST by bert
The newly introduced bipartisan bill to ban TikTok unless its China-based parent divests it is set to be considered by a committee this week
House lawmakers on Tuesday introduced a new bipartisan bill that would ban TikTok if its China-based parent company ByteDance doesn't divest its stake in the social media platform.
The Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act would require that TikTok be divested from ByteDance or other China-based companies within 180 days or else it would be banned from U.S. app stores and web hosting services.
The bill was introduced by Reps. Mike Gallagher, R-Wis., and Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Ill., who serve as the chairman and ranking member, respectively, of the House Select Committee on the Strategic Competition between the U.S. and Chinese Communist Party.
"This is my message to TikTok: break up with the Chinese Communist Party or lose access to your American users," Gallagher said in a press release. "America's foremost adversary has no business controlling a dominant media platform in the United States. TikTok's time in the United States is over unless it ends its relationship with CCP-controlled ByteDance."
TikTok ByteDance China The bipartisan bill would ban TikTok unless its China-based parent company ByteDance divests the social media platform. (Photo illustration by Jonathan Raa/NurPhoto via / Getty Images)
"So long as it is owned by ByteDance and thus required to collaborate with the CCP, TikTok poses critical threats to our national security," Krishnamoorthi added. "Our bipartisan legislation would protect American social media users by driving the divestment of foreign adversary-controlled apps to ensure that Americans are protected from the digital surveillance and influence operations of regimes that could weaponize their personal data against them."
The Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act would also establish a process to ban other social media apps controlled by foreign adversaries unless they sever ties with the foreign adversary-controlled company. Further, it would require designated social media apps to provide users with a copy of their data in a format that can be imported into another app when they leave the platform.
The bill, which the select committee says had 18 bipartisan cosponsors at the time of its introduction, would be enforced against tech companies that operate app stores or provide web hosting services rather than individual users of apps like TikTok.
TikTok has over 170 million users in the U.S. and the ties between parent company ByteDance and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) have raised concerns that the massive social media platform could serve as a propaganda outlet for the CCP as well as undermine the mental health of users by surfacing addictive or harmful content in their feeds.
A TikTok spokesperson told FOX Business in a statement, "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."
The company has previously denied that its parent company shares user data with the CCP.
The House Energy and Commerce Committee has scheduled a markup hearing for the bill that will be held Thursday morning. Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., signaled her support for legislative action against apps controlled by foreign adversaries like TikTok in announcing the hearing.
"At our hearing last year with the CEO of TikTok, we saw a company that was repeatedly caught lying about its relationship with ByteDance and the Chinese Communist Party. It confirmed our worst fears – that applications controlled by foreign adversaries, like TikTok, are exploiting and weaponizing Americans' data and pose a clear national security threat to the United States," Rodgers said.
Tik-Tok seems in panic mode. There are TV commercials featuring Doctors and of all things, Nuns, hawking the service. A nun selling a web social site set off alarm bells. Something just isn't right
Anyone who thinks they will actually stop at just TikTok is dumber than a box of rocks... When have they never abused a power once allowed? They ALWAYS do just as sure as the sun will come up.
...not any more. Trump says no! He’s in character as he earlier defended Disney and Bud Light. He once opposed abortion before he supported it as well. Wonder when he’s going to get back around to hug him some transgenders? Maybe reprise his earlier role with beauty pagents?
This will be a Trojan Horse.
Does tik tok allow back door access for the fbi to spy on its users ?
“...not any more. Trump says no! He’s in character as he earlier defended Disney and Bud Light. He once opposed abortion before he supported it as well. Wonder when he’s going to get back around to hug him some transgenders? Maybe reprise his earlier role with beauty pagents?”
You are right, we would be much better off with someon more perfect like Biden, Newsom, or Michele Obama.
I often wonder why you are even here?
“Does tik tok allow back door access for the fbi to spy on its users ?”
Very important point you make here. What is the difference? The CIA, FBI, NSA, Etc. spying is just as dangerous if not more so than China.
And you’ll sell out your mom if Trump says so as well?
Anyway, better get ready for a lot more Trump 180s in the coming months as I bet we’ll see much much more. Can you handle it, can you keep up?
DC is desperate to get it into the hands of someone who will allow them to control it. It’s nothing to do with security. It’s that there DC occupation government resents a platform they cannot control for things like covid or election stealing
Im guessing that the government wants to ban tik tok because it’s one of the big social media platforms that doesn’t give access to the fbi to spy on Americans
“Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., signaled her support for legislative action against apps controlled by foreign adversaries like TikTok”
The representative from Microsoft opposes TikTok. It’s a superior product to Instagram and Facebook. Big tech wants a wildly better product banned by their bought and paid for legislators. Simple as that.
These “security hawks” and nowhere to be seen when it congress to turn Border, all kinds of other business with China, Israeli Epstein island sex blackmail, phones and computers being made in China, the fine eyes, massive internal surveillance, US Fauci biolabs in China, Chinese students flooding the universities and tech industry, and if course tens of thousands of Chinese walking across the border.
But TikTok., that’s the dangerous one. /s
“It confirmed our worst fears – that applications controlled by foreign adversaries, like TikTok, are exploiting and weaponizing Americans’ data ”
Stay safe, only send your data to Zuckerberg and Google and Amazon. That’s the best way to make sure you are not exploited.
By the way, i bet it’s hard for DC to extort bribery money and campaign donations from a company based in Singapore.
This will allow the Feds to moderate censor TikTok content that’s the game the Uniparty-Biden plays with this forget “National Security” and “Democracy”.
If DC uniformly thinks it’s a good idea and very important, it’s a VERY bad idea. DC is a fount of evil. It sprays evil across the world like a manure sprayer. Aid to Hamas to assist them against Israel, open borders killing Americans, grooming and mutilating and exploiting children sexually in libraries and schools? Fine with them. Eat the bugs? Destroy coal and gas for global warming! Can’t wait! Attack farmers (who the hell hates farmers?) great! Lockdown the whole nation and kill the economy? Deadly shots both sides supported? The abortion celebration from DC? All good! J6 political prisoners neither party cares about? All good!
But suddenly, they all worked together for what’s best for America and got this one right? Not buying.
I didn’t see this mentioned in the article, but TikTok sent a message to all users asking for their zip Code. It then instructed them to call the number of their representative and senator and provided the phone number. The DC phone system was jammed with calls and the reps had to shut off their phones and/or change their numbers. This resulted in an almost immediate advancement of the bill to ban TikTok. this has to be a version of the Streisand Effect*.
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Streisand_effect
And, by Chinese law, everyone must cooperate with the CCP’s intelligence department. No one can say no. Therefore, the company saying they aren’t affiliated with the CCP is an outright lie.
If I understand things correctly one of the problems is the servers are in China, and the government gets access.
Will the purchase of the business by an American affect (effect?) the location of the servers?
They probably spam a 170 million Americans several times a day.
I think it may be true. For example, a year ago, I wanted to go Doug the fuss so I signed on with new account. I looked through it and didn’t find it particularly interesting and haven’t gone back since. I’m sure there are many out there that did the same. We still are counted in that 176 million.
Approved members of the Democratic Party.
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