TikTok crackdown bill unanimously approved by US House panel

The legislation gives China’s ByteDance six months to divest TikTok or the short video app would face a US ban

The 50-0 vote indicates significant momentum for congressional action against TikTok, which has about 170 million US users

Reading Time:4 minutes

Before the vote, US lawmakers got a closed-door classified briefing on national security concerns about TikTok’s Chinese ownership. Image: Reuters

Published: 5:29am, 8 Mar 2024Updated: 8:53am, 8 Mar 2024

A committee in the US House of Representatives advanced two bipartisan bills on Thursday that would compel ByteDance, the Chinese owner of TikTok, to divest the short video sharing app, and require data brokers to prevent personal data collected on the app from being sold to foreign adversaries.

Both bills, which were introduced Tuesday, passed 50-0 through the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, in the latest challenge facing TikTok and data brokers more broadly.

The first, sponsored by the bipartisan chairs of the House select committee on China – Representatives Mike Gallagher and Raja Krishnamoorthi – gives ByteDance about six months to divest TikTok, lest it face a ban in app stores or US-based web-hosting services.

The second, sponsored by Representatives Cathy McMorris Rodgers and Frank Pallone, respectively the senior Republican and Democrat on the energy and commerce committee, would prevent data brokers from transferring sensitive data – including biometric, genetic and geolocation information – from Americans to foreign governments.

McMorris Rodgers, of Washington state, said on Thursday that apps like TikTok “are able to target, surveil and manipulate Americans”. She also named the video editing app CapCut and lifestyle app Lemon8 – also owned by ByteDance – as apps that were “spying by design” because of their need to comply with Chinese laws.

Chinese national security laws would require data from the apps to be handed over on request, but ByteDance has said repeatedly that it has never provided TikTok user data to Beijing.

Before the energy and commerce committee vote, it held a classified hearing on Thursday morning with officials from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Department of Justice and Office of the Director of National Intelligence to discuss the bills.

Select Voice

Choose your listening speed

Get through articles 2x faster

1.25x

250 WPM

Slow

Average

Fast

00:0000:00

1.25x