House Votes To Compel CCP to Divest Of TikTok

UPDATE 10:45 AM: House lawmakers voted Wednesday to compel Chinese Communist Party-tied ByteDance to divest from TikTok within six months or face the popular social media app being banned in the US — amid elevated national security concerns and despite full-throated protests from fervent fans.

The Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, which passed 352-65, requires ByteDance to sell off TikTok within six months of the bill becoming law — and bars companies like Google and Apple from offering US-based web hosting or making TikTok available in app stores if no sale takes place.

Additionally, the bill authorizes the Biden administration to prohibit apps linked to four adversary nations — China, Iran, North Korea and Russia . To ban those apps, government agencies must agree on the threat and must make evidence available to Congress.

TikTok has been accused of posing serious national security concerns to the US due to its parent company’s ties to China. More than 100 million Americans are estimated to use TikTok regularly, and the company has fought hard against the legislation, calling it a “total ban” in all but name.

“The government is attempting to strip 170 million Americans of their Constitutional right to free expression,” TikTok said in a statement last week.

US lawmakers say TikTok won’t be banned if it finds a new owner — but that’s easier said than done.

The measure now moves to the Senate for consideration.

Earlier Story:

Brendan Carr

The FCC commissioner claimed that TikTok poses a "serious threat" to U.S. national security that is distinct from other social media companies.

"TikTok presents a clear and present danger to U.S. national security that is categorically different than any other social media company out there. I've got my fair share of concerns with other big tech companies, but TikTok's different," Brendan Carr said Tuesday during an appearance on "Mornings with Maria Bartiromo."

Fox Business reports Carr claimed that users' browsing history, keystroke patterns, biometrics, location data and more sensitive data is being accessed in Beijing for "nefarious purposes."

The commissioner said that the version of TikTok available in China differs significantly from the U.S. version, describing it as a "concerning application" from both an "espionage perspective" and a "foreign influence point of view."

For example, one study showed that young female users were fed content that could lead to self-harm and eating disorders shortly after setting up an account.

National security officials held a classified briefing on a TikTok bill Tuesday. 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 impending floor vote comes after the House Energy and Commerce Committee voted unanimously to pass the bill, which President Biden has indicated he will sign into law.

He also claimed the bill was "smart" and "targeted" legislation.

The bill's language classifies the term "foreign adversary controlled application" as a website, desktop application, mobile application, or augmented or immersive technology application that is operated directly or indirectly by a foreign nation.

Carr, attempting to assuage concerns about the bill, claimed the legislation does not present a First Amendment issue as long as it focuses on TikTok's "conduct" and looks to the future of national security threats.

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.