JUST IN: Bipartisan Bill to Ban TikTok in the U.S. Introduced in Congress

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A bipartisan bill to ban TikTok in the United States was introduced in Congress on Tuesday.

The Averting the National Threat of Internet Surveillance, Oppressive Censorship and Influence, and Algorithmic Learning by the Chinese Communist Party Act, or ANTI-SOCIAL CCP Act, would forbid transactions to TikTok or its parent company Bytedance Ltd., or a subsidiary or a successor company of the two. Additionally, it would prohibit transactions with social media companies backed by China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, Cuba and Venezuela.

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) introduced the Senate version of the bill, while Reps. Mike Gallagher (R-WI) and Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL) introduced the House version.

“The federal government has yet to take a single meaningful action to protect American users from the threat of TikTok. This isn’t about creative videos — this is about an app that is collecting data on tens of millions of American children and adults every day,” said Rubio. “We know it’s used to manipulate feeds and influence elections. We know it answers to the People’s Republic of China. There is no more time to waste on meaningless negotiations with a CCP-puppet company. It is time to ban Beijing-controlled TikTok for good.”

“TikTok is digital fentanyl that’s addicting Americans, collecting troves of their data, and censoring their news. It’s also an increasingly powerful media company that’s owned by ByteDance, which ultimately reports to the Chinese Communist Party – America’s foremost adversary,” said Gallagher.

“Allowing the app to continue to operate in the U.S. would be like allowing the U.S.S.R. to buy up the New York Times, Washington Post, and major broadcast networks during the Cold War. No country with even a passing interest in its own security would allow this to happen, which is why it’s time to ban TikTok and any other CCP-controlled app before it’s too late,” added the Republican from Wisconsin.

“At a time when the Chinese Communist Party and our other adversaries abroad are seeking any advantage they can find against the United States through espionage and mass surveillance, it is imperative that we do not allow hostile powers to potentially control social media networks that could be easily weaponized against us,” said Krishnamoorthi. “The bipartisan ANTI-SOCIAL CCP Act is a strong step in protecting our nation from the nefarious digital surveillance and influence operations of totalitarian regimes. Recent revelations surrounding the depth of TikTok’s ties to the CCP highlight the urgency of protecting Americans from these risks before it’s too late.”

A handful of states, including South Dakota and Maryland, have already banned TikTok for official use.