Senator Has Concerns Over House Bill to Force China’s ByteDance to Sell TikTok

A leading Senate critic of TikTok said March 6 that he has reservations about a new House bill that would ban the popular social media application in the U.S. if China’s ByteDance doesn't divest the platform.

Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., said in a statement that while he plans to take a “close look at this bill,” he has “some concerns about the constitutionality of an approach that names specific companies.” Those concerns involve the U.S. Constitution’s prohibition on bills of attainder, which punish a specific person, group or entity without a trial.

Rep. Mike Gallagher, R-Wis., who introduced the bill March 5 with Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Ill. (see 2403050063), said at a March 6 press conference that “we’ve worked very hard … to ensure that there’s no issue with the bill of attainder.” He noted that the bill would establish an executive branch process that would prohibit foreign adversary ownership of other social media apps as well.

While the bill calls out ByteDance, which poses a “clear and present danger” through its TikTok ownership, Gallagher said, “the bill is obviously about more. It creates a framework that is tied to foreign adversary control -- a substantial ownership or operational control of a company. So I think it’s fair to say that this is about that ownership structure and that framework, not about going after a particular company.”

Warner and Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., introduced their own TikTok-related bill in March 2023 (see 2303070075). Their legislation would authorize the Commerce Department to block transactions with TikTok and other foreign technology products that threaten U.S. national security. Warner is working with Senate Commerce Committee Chair Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., to try to advance his bill. Cantwell has been working on her own proposal.

While TikTok-related legislation stalled last year amid aggressive lobbying by the app and congressional disagreement over the best approach (see 2307210046), lawmakers continue to worry that the Chinese government could use ByteDance to access sensitive personal data collected by TikTok. They also accuse TikTok of spreading dangerous propaganda for Beijing.

Gallagher said at the press conference that concerning content that appeared on TikTok after Hamas' Oct. 7 attack on Israel has renewed congressional interest in taking action. Krishnamoorthi told reporters that China's use of TikTok to interfere in Taiwan’s recent presidential election has further inspired support for legislation.

The House Energy and Commerce Committee is scheduled to hold a hearing and markup on the House bill on March 7. The hearing is expected to include witnesses from the FBI, DOJ and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.