Tuesday, a bipartisan group of lawmakers introduced legislation that would ban TikTok in the U.S.
The legislation was introduced following a warning from the FBI director and cybersecurity experts who have said China could use the social media platform to spy on Americans and censure content.
The new bill by Republican Senator Marco Rubio aims to block or prohibit all transactions from any social media company in or under the influence of China and Russia. A companion bill in the U.S. House of Representatives was also sponsored by Republican congressman Mike Gallagher and Democrat Raja Krishnamoorthi.
“It is troubling that rather than encouraging the administration to conclude its national security review of TikTok, some members of Congress have decided to push for a politically-motivated ban that will do nothing to advance the national security of the United States,” a TikTok spokesperson said in a statement, adding that the company would continue to brief members of Congress on the plans that are “well underway” to “further secure our platform in the United States.”
The bill comes as a result of Washington’s rocky relationship with TikTok over the past year after a failed bid by the Trump administration to ban the popular video-sharing app.
TikTok, which has more than 100 million users in the United States and is owned by the Chinese-based country ByteDance, has become popular among younger Americans.
At a hearing last month, FBI Director Chris Wray said TikTok’s U.S. operations raise national security concerns, flagging the risk that the Chinese government could harness it to influence users or control their devices.
On Monday, Alabama and Utah joined other U.S. states prohibiting the use of TikTok on state government devices and computer networks due to national security concerns.
“China’s access to data collected by TikTok presents a threat to our cybersecurity,” Utah Gov. Spencer Cox said in a statement on Monday. “As a result, we’ve deleted our TikTok account and ordered the same on all state-owned devices. We must protect Utahns and make sure that the people of Utah can trust the state’s security systems.”
CFIUS and TikTok have been in talks for months aiming to reach a national security agreement to protect the data of TikTok’s more than 100 million users.
In a statement to The Hill, TikTok spokesperson Jamal Brown said the platform is saddened by the number of states that enacted policies based on unfounded, politically charged falsehoods about their company.
“It is unfortunate that the many state agencies, offices, and universities on TikTok in those states will no longer be able to use it to build communities and connect with constituents,” Brown said in a statement.
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