The bill, passed by a vote of 352-65, now goes to the
Senate, where its prospects are unclear.
TikTok, which has more than 170 million American users, is a
wholly-owned subsidiary of Chinese technology firm ByteDance Ltd.
The lawmakers contend that ByteDance is beholden to the
Chinese government, which could demand access to the data of TikTok’s consumers
in the U.S. whenever it wants. The worry stems from a set of Chinese national
security laws that compel organizations to assist with intelligence gathering.
“We have given TikTok a clear choice,” said Rep. Cathy
McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash. “Separate from your parent company ByteDance, which
is beholden to the CCP (the Chinese Communist Party), and remain operational in
the United States, or side with the CCP and face the consequences. The choice
is TikTok’s.”
House passage of the bill is only the first step. The Senate
would also need to pass the measure for it to become law, and lawmakers in that
chamber indicated it would undergo a thorough review. Senate Majority Leader
Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said he’ll have to consult with relevant committee
chairs to determine the bill’s path.
President Joe Biden has said if Congress passes the measure,
he will sign it.
The House vote is the latest example of increased tensions
between China and the U.S. By targeting TikTok, lawmakers are tackling what
they see as a grave threat to America’s national security — but also singling
out a platform popular with millions of people, many of whom skew younger, just
months before an election.
In a video posted on Wednesday evening, TikTok CEO Shou Zi
Chew said that the company has invested to keep user data safe and the TikTok
platform free from outside manipulation. If passed, he said the bill would give
more power to a handful of other social companies.
“We will not stop fighting and advocating for you. We will
continue to do all we can, including exercising our legal rights, to protect
this amazing platform that we have built with you,” Chew said in his message to
the app’s users.
In anticipation of the vote, a Chinese foreign ministry
spokesman, Wang Wenbin, accused Washington of resorting to political tools when
U.S. businesses fail to compete. He said the effort would disrupt normal
business operations and undermine investor confidence “and will eventually
backfire on the U.S. itself.”
Overall, 197 Republican lawmakers voted for the measure and
15 against. On the Democratic side, 155 voted for the bill and 50 against.
Some Republican opponents of the bill said the U.S. should
warn consumers if there are data privacy and propaganda concerns, but the final
choice should be left with consumers.
“The answer to authoritarianism is not more
authoritarianism,” said Rep. Tom McClintock, R-Calif. “The answer to CCP-style
propaganda is not CCP-style oppression. Let us slow down before we blunder down
this very steep and slippery slope.”
Democrats also warned of the impact a ban would have on
users in the U.S., including entrepreneurs and business owners. One of the no
votes came from Rep. Jim Himes, the ranking Democratic member of the House
Intelligence Committee.
“One of the key differences between us and those adversaries
is the fact that they shut down newspapers, broadcast stations, and social
media platforms. We do not,” Himes said. “We trust our citizens to be worthy of
their democracy. We do not trust our government to decide what information they
may or may not see.”
The day before the House vote, top national security
officials in the Biden administration held a closed-door briefing with
lawmakers to discuss TikTok and the national security implications. Lawmakers
are balancing those security concerns against a desire not to limit free speech
online.
“What we’ve tried to do here is be very thoughtful and
deliberate about the need to force a divestiture of TikTok without granting any
authority to the executive branch to regulate content or go after any American
company,” said Rep. Mike Gallagher, the bill’s author, as he emerged from the
briefing.
TikTok has long denied that it could be used as a tool of
the Chinese government. The company has said it has never shared U.S. user data
with Chinese authorities and won’t do so if it is asked. To date, the U.S.
government also has not provided evidence that shows TikTok shared such
information with Chinese authorities.
Republican leaders moved quickly to bring up the bill after
its introduction last week by Gallagher and Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Ill. A
House committee approved the legislation unanimously, on a 50-0 vote, even
after their offices were inundated with calls from TikTok users demanding they
drop the effort. Some offices even shut off their phones because of the
onslaught. Supporters of the bill said the effort backfired.
“(It) provided members a preview of how the platform could
be weaponized to inject disinformation into our system,” Gallagher said.
Lawmakers in both parties are anxious to confront China on a
range of issues. The House formed a special committee to focus on China-related
issues. And Schumer directed committee chairs to begin working with Republicans
on a bipartisan China competition bill.
Schumer is likely to feel some pressure from within his own
party to move on the TikTok legislation. Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman
Mark Warner announced after the House vote that he would work to “get this bill
passed through the Senate and signed into law.”
In a joint statement with Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, the
top Republican on the intelligence panel, Warner said that “we are united in
our concern about the national security threat posed by TikTok — a platform
with enormous power to influence and divide Americans whose parent company
ByteDance remains legally required to do the bidding of the Chinese Communist
Party.”
Democratic Sen. Maria Cantwell, who chairs another panel
with jurisdiction on the issue, said she would “try to find a path forward that
is constitutional and protects civil liberties.”
Roughly 30 TikTok influencers and others who traveled with
them spoke out against the bill on Capitol Hill on Wednesday. They chanted
phrases like “Keep TikTok” ahead of the vote. They also held signs that read
“TikTok changed my life for the better” and “TikTok helped me grow my
business.”
Dan Salinger, a Sacramento, California-based TikTok creator
in attendance, said he started creating content on the app during the COVID-19
pandemic purely out of boredom. But since then his account, which features
videos about his life and his father, who suffers from dementia, has grown in
popularity. Today, he has 2 million followers on the app.
“I’m actually appalled for many reasons,” Salinger said.
“The speed with which they’re pushing this bill through does not give enough
time for Americans to voice their concerns and opinions.”
Former President Donald Trump has spoken out against the
House effort, but his vice president, Mike Pence, is urging Schumer to bring
the House bill to a vote.
“There can be no doubt that this app is Chinese spyware and
that a sale to a non-foreign adversary company is in the best interests of the
American people,” Pence said in a letter to Schumer. -AP
0 comments:
Post a Comment