New House Bill Aims to Force China’s ByteDance to Sell TikTok

Reps. Mike Gallagher, R-Wis., and Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Ill., the chairman and ranking member, respectively, of the House Select Committee on China, introduced a bill March 5 to ban TikTok in the U.S. unless China’s ByteDance divests the social media application.

The proposed “Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act,” which is “co-led” by 17 other lawmakers, including House Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanik of New York, reflects congressional concern that the Chinese government could use ByteDance to access sensitive personal data collected by TikTok. Lawmakers also accuse TikTok of spreading dangerous propaganda for Beijing.

“This is my message to TikTok: break up with the Chinese Communist Party or lose access to your American users,” Gallagher said. “America’s foremost adversary has no business controlling a dominant media platform in the United States.”

The House Energy and Commerce Committee announced separately that it will hold a hearing and markup on the legislation on March 7. "I commend [Reps. Gallagher and Krishnamoorthi] for their leadership on this bipartisan bill and look forward to advancing the bill this week," said Energy and Commerce Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash.

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre declined to comment on the legislation, telling reporters she had not yet seen it or consulted with anyone else in the White House about it. "Obviously, we'll take a look" at the proposal, she said.

In a statement, TikTok criticized the bill, saying it would "trample the First Amendment rights" of the millions of Americans who create and view the app's content.

Similar legislation stalled last year amid aggressive lobbying by TikTok and congressional disagreement over the best approach (see 2307210046), and it is unclear whether the new bill will be more successful. Testifying before the Energy and Commerce Committee in March 2023, the head of TikTok insisted that the app is not controlled by China and has built a firewall to protect U.S. personal data from “unwanted foreign access” (see 2303230038).