Hawley Introduces Senate Bill Banning Federal Employee Use of TikTok

Senate Crime and Terrorism Subcommittee Chairman Josh Hawley, R-Mo., introduced legislation Wednesday that would ban the use of TikTok by all federal employees on government devices. “Do we really want Beijing having the geolocation data of all federal employees, having their keystrokes?” he asked reporters after a subcommittee hearing.

It’s not debatable whether TikTok parent company ByteDance shares data with the Chinese government, and TikTok is open about the amount of data it collects, said Hawley. ByteDance didn’t comment.

Apple and TikTok for a second time denied Hawley’s request to testify. If they have nothing they are afraid to defend, they should take an oath and provide relevant testimony, Hawley said during the hearing. DOJ, FBI and Department of Homeland Security officials agreed with Hawley’s assessment that TikTok’s data collection is a national security threat.

Collection of face, voice and location data and other information tied closely to identities should raise great concern, testified DHS Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency Assistant Director-Cybersecurity Bryan Ware. Mass data collection makes it easier to target people, said DOJ National Security Division Deputy Assistant Attorney General Adam Hickey. TikTok is one example of American consumers not understanding state-sponsored implications, said FBI Cyber Operations Branch Deputy Assistant Director Clyde Wallace.

China requires businesses there hand over data, Hawley noted. Companies like Apple reportedly must use government-approved network equipment that is fully open to Chinese officials, he said.

Hawley is correct that Chinese laws allow the government to access corporate data about consumers, but Chinese corporate actors aren’t synonymous with that country's government, testified Yale Law School Paul Tsai China Center Senior Fellow Samm Sacks. Sometimes, companies in that nation don’t want to come forward publicly because it looks like they are resisting the government, she added.

U.S. companies say Chinese partners are necessary for innovation, said American Enterprise Institute resident scholar Derek Scissors. However, he noted the domestic, political incentive to extract information from Chinese and U.S. citizens. Neither Equifax nor TikTok should be able to collect the amount of information they have about consumers, Sacks said.

Weeds are growing without any international strategy to get rid of them, said Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I. He noted TikTok exemplifies an unmarked threat. China is using this data to build an artificial intelligence lead, which is exacerbated by China's not having privacy laws like the U.S.