Sen. Marco Rubio introduces bipartisan bill that would ban TikTok in the US
MIAMI - Republican Senator Marco Rubio has introduced a bipartisan bill in the Senate this week that would ban TikTok from operating in the US.
U.S. Representatives Mike Gallagher (R-WI) and Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL) have introduced companion legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives.
The lawmakers are concerned because the app's parent company, ByteDance, is required by Chinese law to make the app's data available to the Chinese Communist Party which could be used to spy on Americans.
They say the Averting the National Threat of Internet Surveillance, Oppressive Censorship and Influence, and Algorithmic Learning by the Chinese Communist Party Act (ANTI-SOCIAL CCP Act) would protect Americans by blocking and prohibiting all transactions from any social media company in, or under the influence of, China, Russia, and several other foreign countries of concern.
"The federal government has yet to take a single meaningful action to protect American users from the threat of TikTok. This isn't about creative videos - this is about an app that is collecting data on tens of millions of American children and adults every day. We know it's used to manipulate feeds and influence elections. We know it answers to the People's Republic of China," said Rubio in a statement.
TikTok has not commented on the proposed legislation.
