Bipartisan Support for TikTok Restrictions

It’s hard to believe, but we’re finally seeing some unity in Congress. The reason for this sudden show of bipartisan cooperation: China.

We’ve just seen bipartisan legislation introduced in the U.S. Senate intended to at least restrict the reach of TikTok and other Chinese technology platforms that seem innocent but are actually tools for China to mine the data of American citizens, which is then provided to the Communist Chinese government. 

As reported:

Two U.S. senators said on Monday their efforts to tackle foreign technology threats were advancing and they will on Tuesday unveil legislation aimed at granting President Joe Biden's administration new powers to ban Chinese-owned video app TikTok and other apps that could pose security risks. . . .

TikTok has come under increasing fire over fears that user data could end up in the hands of the Chinese government, undermining Western security interests. TikTok Chief Executive Shou Zi Chew is due to appear before Congress on March 23.

Senator Mark Warner, a Democrat, and John Thune, a Republican and others plan on Tuesday to unveil the latest in a series of proposals to give the administration new tools to ban the ByteDance-owned app used by more than 100 million Americans.

The proposed bill also includes the power to ban similar apps from Russia, Iran, North Korea, Venezuela, Cuba, and China. The new bill, known as the Restricting the Emergence of Security Threats that Risk Information and Communications Technology (RESTRICT) Act, would reportedly “empower the Commerce Secretary to mitigate ‘undue or unacceptable risk’ to national security posed by technology transactions in which foreign adversaries have an interest.”

Last month, we learned that the Biden Administration gave all federal agencies an ultimatum to remove TikTok from all government-issued phones and other mobile devices within thirty days. Clearly, even the federal government knows the threat posed by this supposedly innocent app really is. TikTok claims to be the product of a private ownership, but we know where they’re sending your information, your facial scans, essentially whatever private data they can access. It’s nice to see our lawmakers finally working together to protect the sensitive data of regular American citizens as well.

As ACLJ Senior Counsel for Global Affairs and former U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo wrote at ACLJ.org:

TikTok insists that it is wholly independent of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and that any claims of nefarious CCP activity harmful to Americans are ill-founded. This is nothing more than a smokescreen. China’s National Intelligence Law, which was enacted in July 2017, established the “obligation” for Chinese citizens (and companies) to support and assist in work pertaining to national intelligence.

TikTok’s claims of being separate from the CCP matter little; it is owned by the Chinese company ByteDance. Under the 2017 law, ByteDance is compelled to share information if its CCP overseers ask for it – even if it is the private information of TikTok users, such as names, ages, phone numbers, and emails, or even approximate location and biometric data.

As a former Secretary of State and CIA Director, I can assure you that the CCP has already demanded that information and will continue to demand it.

While this bill is not an across-the-board ban on TikTok, it at least sends a clear message to the country that this app is dangerous. If you choose to continue using it, you’ve been made aware of the risks. If the right to watch silly videos is worth putting your personal information at risk and letting the Chinese government sift through your data, you have that right. But you can’t say you weren’t warned.

Today’s full Sekulow broadcast includes further analysis of this bipartisan proposal to hinder China’s ability to spy on Americans and harvest our data, including more with ACLJ Senior Advisor Ric Grenell.

Watch the full broadcast below: