House Commerce Looks to Move Bipartisan TikTok Bills

House Commerce Committee Republicans skipped regular order, considering several TikTok bills at a subcommittee markup Tuesday, ranking member Frank Pallone, D-N.J., said during the proceeding. The bills address problems worthy of committee consideration, but Republicans haven’t held proper legislative hearings on several of the bills, so they haven’t gotten proper stakeholder review, he said.

The House Innovation Subcommittee considered five pieces of legislation Tuesday, starting the markup after 3 p.m. EST. Potential votes on the bills were expected after our deadline. Republicans outnumber Democrats on the subcommittee 13-9.

The subcommittee considered a bill to require distributors of mobile apps that have been banned on federal government devices to disclose this information to users downloading the apps. Congress banned TikTok on federal devices in December. Reps. Kat Cammack, R-Fla., and Darren Soto, D-Fla., introduced HR-750, the Chinese-owned Applications Using The Information of Our Nation (Caution) Act.

The subcommittee considered a bill to require distributors of Chinese-owned apps to disclose to users the origin of such apps. Reps. Russ Fulcher, R-Ind., and Chris Pappas, D-N.H., introduced HR-784, the Internet Application Integrity and Disclosure (Internet Application I.D.) Act. A third bill, HR-742, would require companies that own apps that store data in China to disclose the information to consumers. Reps. Jeff Duncan, R-S.C.; Marcy Kaptur, D-Ohio; and Scott Perry, R-Pa., introduced the Telling Everyone the Location of Data Leaving the U.S. (Tell) Act.

HR-742 and HR-784 are “way too broad and need more work,” said Pallone. House Innovation Subcommittee ranking member Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill., agreed, saying she hopes Republicans will work with Democrats before any potential full committee markup. Versions of these bills were considered during a December 2021 hearing, but there was little discussion on either of them, said Pallone. He said he supports giving consumers access to information about how their data is controlled and stored but said these bills shouldn’t be rushed. He noted HR-750 was introduced only a few days ago, so stakeholders haven’t been given enough time to understand the implications.

China has shown it doesn’t respect American principles on data privacy, said House Commerce Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash. She noted the bills are only a small part of the solution for stopping China from infringing on Americans’ privacy.