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Republican and Democratic lawmakers have introduced legislation that would ban app stores from distributing TikTok unless ByteDance, its Chinese owner, divests control of the popular video-sharing platform.
The bipartisan bill from Mike Gallagher, the Republican chair of the House China committee, his Democratic counterpart Raja Krishnamoorthi and 17 lawmakers would give ByteDance 165 days to divest TikTok to avoid the app from being banned.
The measure could have implications for the US election. President Joe Biden’s re-election campaign has started using the video streaming service to try to connect with young voters, even though the White House previously backed a bill that would have given the commerce department the authority to ban apps such as TikTok.
His campaign launched its first TikTok video last month on the day of the Super Bowl, including a Q&A with the president. The first post got more than 10mn views, although none has surpassed that. Most of the posts focus on attacking the mental fitness of former president Donald Trump and Republican extremism.
The bill would also create a process that would enable the president to take action against social media applications controlled by groups that are headquartered or domiciled in China, Russia, Iran and North Korea.
TikTok said: “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 170mn Americans and deprive 5mn small businesses of a platform they rely on to grow and create jobs.”
The Biden administration and the previous Trump administration both identified TikTok as a security risk, partly because Chinese law requires domestic companies to share data when requested by Beijing. Some lawmakers say China could use the platform to spread disinformation to try to meddle with US democracy.
In recent congressional testimony, FBI director Christopher Wray said the streaming service was a tool that was ultimately under the control of the Chinese government and that it “screams out with national security concerns”.
One congressional aide said the bill was a “monumental moment” and that there was a “huge groundswell of bipartisan support” for the measure on Capitol Hill.
Previous congressional efforts to ban TikTok have been unsuccessful, particularly after some lawmakers raised concerns about any prohibition infringing on free speech. Congressional aides said this bill was designed to overcome those barriers.
A second congressional aide said many lawmakers had shifted their view on TikTok and were more willing to risk the wrath of younger voters following classified briefings from officials on the security risks. The legislation would not ban app stores from distributing TikTok in non-US markets, another congressional aide noted.
Some US states are also trying to ban the app. Last year, Montana’s governor signed into law a first-of-its-kind bill that would prohibit app stores from allowing downloads of TikTok in the state. TikTok successfully sued to block the ban on the grounds that it was unconstitutional, and Montana is appealing against the ruling.
In January, Republican lawmakers grilled TikTok chief executive Shou Zi Chew over whether the group has ties to China, which he denied. TikTok has tried to distance itself from ByteDance by investing more than $1.5bn on “Project Texas”, a restructuring plan it insists protects user data and content from China’s influence.
TikTok has been banned from government devices in the US, UK, Canada and the EU.
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