![]() ![]() Angus King (I-Maine) and Marco Rubio (R-Fla). Ken Buck (R-Colo.) unveiled their own TikTok ban bill. While McCaul’s TikTok bill is the first to pass out of committee this Congress, it’s not the only legislation percolating on Capitol Hill. On Tuesday, progressive tech group Fight for the Future launched a “#DontBanTikTok” campaign opposing the legislation. The American Civil Liberties Union sent a letter on Monday that urged lawmakers to oppose the bill, which it called “vague and overbroad” as well as a violation of the First Amendment. The DATA Act has already prompted outside pushback. and allied companies that do business with Chinese firms, including independent subsidiaries that operate outside the reach of Beijing. On Tuesday, Meeks called that language “dangerously overbroad.” He warned it would inadvertently impose sanctions on a wide swath of U.S. ![]() The bill would also require the president to impose sanctions on companies with ties to Chinese-owned apps that are “reasonable believed to have facilitated or may be facilitating or contributing to” a broad slate of nefarious activities by Beijing. In 2020, TikTok invoked the Beman amendments as part of its successful court effort to block an attempted Trump administration ban. law known as the Berman amendments - which allow for the free flow of “informational material” from hostile countries - to provide what McCaul called a “constitutional framework” that would let the president ban a foreign app. The DATA Act would alter a portion of U.S. “We’re disappointed to see this rushed piece of legislation move forward, despite its considerable negative impact on the free speech rights of millions of Americans who use and love TikTok,” Oberwetter added. ban on TikTok is a ban on the export of American culture and values to the billion-plus people who use our service worldwide.” In response to the Wednesday vote, TikTok spokesperson Brooke Oberwetter said that a “U.S. “I’ve seen that tactic utilized before - fear that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction, without evidence or proof,” he said. He later warned his colleagues against using the tactics of “fear” to pass a TikTok ban. “We cannot act rashly without consideration of the very real soft power, free speech and economic consequences of a ban,” Meeks said on Tuesday. The GOP increasingly frames the company as a willing participant in Beijing’s espionage activities - McCaul called it a “spy balloon in your phone.” But Democrats appear hesitant to ban an app that roughly 100 million Americans use each month. “Instead, my staff and I received the text of this legislation a little over a week ago, and have only had several days to review a bill that would dramatically rewrite the rules-based international economic order.”Īside from that debate on process, Tuesday’s markup discussion revealed a widening gap in how Republicans and Democrats perceive the threat they say TikTok poses. “We could have held hearings before the markup and carefully crafted bipartisan legislation together,” Meeks said Tuesday. Meeks said the DATA Act was “unvetted” and had been thrust on his staff with little warning. “In the meanwhile, we can be having hearings and conversations, bringing in witnesses and experts on sanctions.” “I don’t want to supersede CFIUS,” Meeks said. In a brief conversation with reporters on Tuesday, he said Democrats are open to “more conversation and dialogue” on a TikTok ban - but, he added, “we have to have all of the facts.” Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.), the committee’s ranking member, disputed the notion that Democrats would oppose any bill that targets TikTok. Its critics, however, point to requirements in Chinese law that require companies based in-country to comply with any and all requests from state intelligence services. ![]() The committee ultimately advanced McCaul’s DATA Act on Wednesday morning.īyteDance, TikTok’s China-based parent company, has long denied any association with Beijing’s surveillance or propaganda operations. ![]()
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