The US moved one step closer to effectively banning short format video app TikTok on mobile devices, with a panel of US lawmakers voting last week to advance a bill that would make it easier to ban the Chinese-owned app, amid criticism that the proposal threatens free speech.
The Deterring America’s Technological Adversaries (DATA) Act passed the Republican-led House Foreign Affairs Committee on a party-line vote but faces opposition from free speech campaigners and Democrats when it comes up for votes in the full House and Senate, PTI reported.
“My bill mandates the administration to ban TikTok or any software applications that threaten US national security,” said the committee’s chairman Michael McCaul.
TikTok is owned by Chinese firm ByteDance, which is being scrutinized in multiple countries over privacy and surveillance concerns.
The proposed legislation directs the Treasury Secretary to issue a directive prohibiting Americans from engaging transactions with entities that could transfer sensitive personal data to entities directed or influenced by the Chinese government.
It also empowers the President to impose sanctions on certain transactions relating to connected software applications controlled by entities that could facilitate China’s intelligence, censorship or surveillance activities, including efforts to steer US policy and regulatory decisions.
Under the bill, the president can waive certain sanctions and make a decision on whether TikTok or any of its affiliated companies meet the criteria for sanctions.
A TikTok official said the company was disappointed to see this rushed piece of legislation move forward in Congress.
“A US ban on TikTok is a ban on the export of American culture and values to the billion-plus people who use our service worldwide,” spokeswoman Brooke Oberwetter said in a statement.
In a letter sent to the committee on Monday, the American Civil Liberties Union said the legislation would violate the First Amendment rights of millions of Americans.
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