White House backs Senate bill to boost US ability to ban TikTok
- The bill would give the Commerce Department the ability to restrict and even ban TikTok and other technologies that pose national security risks
- TikTok has come under increasing fire over fears that user data could end up in the hands of the Chinese government
The White House-backed legislation introduced on Tuesday by a dozen senators to give the Biden administration new powers to ban Chinese-owned short video app TikTok and other foreign-based technologies if they pose a threat to national security.
The endorsement boosts efforts by a number of lawmakers to ban the popular app, which is owned by Chinese tech company ByteDance and used by more than 100 million Americans.
The bill would give the Commerce Department the ability impose restrictions up to and including banning TikTok and other technologies that pose national security risks, said Democratic Senator Mark Warner, who chairs the Intelligence Committee. It would also apply to foreign technologies from China, Russia, North Korea, Iran, Venezuela and Cuba, he said.
TikTok criticised the measure, saying in a statement that any “US ban on TikTok is a ban on the export of American culture and values to the billion-plus people who use our service worldwide”.
The bill would require Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo to identify and address foreign threats to information and communications technology products and services. Raimondo’s office declined to comment.