US lawmakers in the House of Representatives introduced a bill on Tuesday aimed at curbing the influence of social media apps controlled by the US’s foreign adversaries, noteworthy among which is TikTok, a subsidiary of China-based ByteDance. This development comes amid increasing concern among US lawmakers regarding weak privacy protections, leading to potential risks such as the Chinese government gaining access to sensitive user data.
The bill, formally designated the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, is a bipartisan initiative brought forth by Mike Gallagher (R-WI) and Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL), members of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party.
If enacted, the new legislation would strictly prohibit the distribution, maintenance, and update of any app under the control of a ‘foreign adversary’ within the US. Such apps include those ‘directly or indirectly’ operated by a foreign adversary, explicitly targeting apps owned by ByteDance, such as TikTok.
Entities found in violations of these proposed regulations could face severe financial penalties, including a potential civil fine of $5,000 per US user of the app. Enhanced penalties are also outlined for data and information violations.
The bill further stipulates that ByteDance must relinquish ownership of TikTok within 165 days, with the consequence of non-compliance being effectively barred from the US app markets and web-hosting services, severely impacting its operations within the US market. This part of the proposal addresses the mounting concerns regarding American data privacy and national security.
However, multiple Chinese laws such as the National Security Law, the Export Control Law, and the Anti-Foreign Sanctions Law could pose considerable hurdles to any forced sale of TikTok.
The Chinese government revised the Catalog of Prohibited or Restricted Technology Exports to include ‘recommendation algorithms’ as a technology restricted from export in 2020. The sale of TikTok could potentially involve the transfer of such sensitive technology, in clear violation of these regulations.
TikTok responded critically to the newly introduced bill, asserting that the legislation is an outright ban on TikTok that infringes on the First Amendment rights of 170 million Americans and threatens the growth prospects of 5 million small businesses.