Technology
Biden administration backs bipartisan bill to ban TikTok in U.S.
The RESTRICT Act would give the Commerce Department the ability to restrict, and even ban, TikTok and other technologies if they are considered to pose national security risks
March 8, 2023 8:29am
Updated: March 8, 2023 8:30am
The White House backed a bipartisan Senate bill introduced on Tuesday that seeks to give the administration the power to restrict and ban the Chinese-owned social media application TikTok.
The RESTRICT Act would give the Commerce Department the ability to restrict, and even ban, TikTok and other technologies if they are considered to pose national security risks, said the chair of the Intelligence Committee Democratic Senator Mark Warner.
Specifically, the bill would require Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo to identify foreign threats in technology products and services, including technologies coming from China, Russia, North Korea, Iran, Venezuela, and Cuba.
White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said the bill "would strengthen our ability to address discrete risks posed by individual transactions, and systemic risks posed by certain classes of transactions involving countries of concern in sensitive technology sectors."
"We look forward to continue working with both Democrats and Republicans on this bill, and urge Congress to act quickly to send it to the President’s desk," he said added.
The bill is co-sponsored by Democrat Mark Warner and Republican John Thune and includes Democrats Tammy Baldwin, Joe Manchin, Michael Bennet, Kirsten Gillibrand, and Martin Heinrich along with Republicans Deb Fischer, Jerry Moran, Dan Sullivan, Susan Collins, and Mitt Romney.
“It’s safe to assume that if the [Chinese Communist Party] is willing to lie about its spy balloon and cover up the origins of the worst pandemic in 100 years, they’ll lie about using TikTok to spy on American citizens,” Thune said at a press conference.
The move comes TikTok has been under constant criticism from state governors and other government officials who fear that the company could be sharing user data with the Chinese Communist Party.
"U.S. ban on TikTok is a ban on the export of American culture and values to the billion-plus people who use our service worldwide," TikTok responded to the announcement in a statement.
