Today, Representative John Curtis (R-UT) voted to force Tik Tok to divest from ByteDance, its Chinese Communist Party parent company during a House Energy and Commerce Committee markup. H.R. 7521, the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act protects Americans and prevents foreign adversaries, such as China, from targeting, surveilling, and manipulating the American people through online applications like TikTok. The legislation passed unanimously with bipartisan support.

“TikTok is owned by a company that China's government controls, and that is a big problem for data security and national security,” said Rep. Curtis. “Through Congressional investigations, including the CEO testifying himself in the Energy and Commerce Committee, it has become clear this structure is unsustainable. I fully support this bill requiring TikTok to divest from its Chinese Communist Party affiliated parent company. This is the best option to ensure the platform remains available while protecting user data.”

This bipartisan bill addresses the immediate national security risks posed by TikTok and establishes a framework for the Executive Branch to protect Americans from future foreign adversary-controlled applications. If an application is determined to be operated by a company controlled by a foreign adversary – like ByteDance, Ltd., which is controlled by the People’s Republic of China – the application must be divested from foreign adversary control within 180 days. If the application is not divested, entities in the United States would be prohibited from distributing the application through a marketplace or store and provide it with web hosting services.

This bill only applies to applications controlled by foreign adversaries—specifically, China, Iran, North Korea, or Russia—and is based solely on national security concerns, not content-based concerns.

BACKGROUND:

·      Tik Tok is owned by ByteDance, a company with ties to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). TikTok admits that these companies are not separate in its privacy policy, when it states that it may share information within “our corporate group.” At least 300 TikTok employees have worked for China’s state-run propaganda media.

·      In October 2021, TikTok public policy chief Michael Beckerman confirmed in a hearing that ByteDance is part of this “corporate group.” TikTok has given itself permission to share Americans’ data with ByteDance, contrary to public statements.

·      Two dozen former TikTok employees tell me that ByteDance and TikTok employees in China do not see the companies as separate units. ByteDance executives regularly make decisions and interfere with TikTok operations in America.

·      ByteDance executives have stated that they intend to align ByteDance technology with the CCP’s authoritarian goals and that “technology must be led by the socialist core value system”

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