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Some US lawmakers have introduced new legislation that aims to ban TikTok from operating in the United States.<\/p>\n
The new bill by Sen. Marco Rubio, the top Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee, and a bipartisan pair of congressmen in the House, reflects the latest move by US policymakers against the Chinese-owned short-form video app.\u00a0<\/p>\n
There have been reports that TikTok\u00a0lacks ability to safeguard US user data from the Chinese government.
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The proposed legislation on Tuesday December 13, would \u201cblock and prohibit all transactions\u201d in the United States by social media companies with at least one million monthly users that are based in, or under the \u201csubstantial influence\u201d of, countries that are considered foreign adversaries, including China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, Cuba and Venezuela.<\/p>\n
The bill specifically names TikTok and its parent, ByteDance, as social media companies for the purposes of the legislation.\u00a0
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The legislation comes as a wave of states led by Republican governors have introduced state-level restrictions on the use of TikTok on government-owned devices. In the past two weeks, at least seven states have introduced such measures, including Maryland, South Dakota and Utah.
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For years TikTok has been having discussions with the US government on a potential deal that may allow the company to address the national security concerns and to continue serving US users.<\/p>\n
TikTok has previously said it doesn\u2019t share information with the Chinese government and that a US-based security team decides who can access US user data from China. TikTok has also previously acknowledged that employees based in China can currently access user data.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe federal government has yet to take a single meaningful action to protect American users from the threat of TikTok,\u201d Rubio said in a statement.
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\u201cThere is no more time to waste on meaningless negotiations with a CCP-puppet company. It is time to ban Beijing-controlled TikTok for good.\u201d
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Hilary McQuaide, a spokesperson for TikTok, reacted\u00a0in a statement that read;
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\u201cIt\u2019s troubling that rather than encouraging the Administration to conclude its national security review of TikTok, some members of Congress have decided to push for a politically-motivated ban that will do nothing to advance the national security of the United States.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe will continue to brief members of Congress on the plans that have been developed under the oversight of our country\u2019s top national security agencies\u2014plans that we are well underway in implementing\u2014to further secure our platform in the United States,\u201d McQuaide added.<\/p>\n
Tuesday\u2019s bill is not the only federal legislation to target TikTok. Last year, US lawmakers proposed a law that would ban TikTok usage by federal agencies, and Rubio introduced a bill that would force some app makers to disclose ownership information.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Already, the US military, the State Department and the Department of Homeland Security have restricted TikTok from devices under their control.<\/p>\n
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