By Sophie Deignan

 

 

 

 

Banning TikTok, a popular video-sharing app, is being fueled by bi-partisan support as both federal lawmakers and state governors move beyond merely prohibiting the app on government-issued devices.[1] The main concern behind TikTok is that it is owned by Beijing-based Byte Dance Ltd., and there is a fear that this gives the Chinese government unrestricted access to U.S. users’ data.[2] Assurances by TikTok representatives that the app does not share U.S. users’ data with the Chinese government have not persuaded U.S. lawmakers that the app is harmless[3]. Rather, the U.S. fears that the Chinese Communist Party may require Byte Dance, as a Chinese business, to hand over data collected by the app at any point, thus providing China with extensive access to U.S. users’ data.[4]

The app first became popular during the Covid-19 pandemic, allowing users to create and upload short videos of themselves, and it is now seen as mainstream social media.[5] Despite the fun dance moves and cooking recipes that have been uploaded on TikTok, the app has already been banned in varying capacities from state-issued devices by approximately two dozen states with both Republican and Democratic governors.[6] In December 2022, the federal government also banned the app from government-issued devices.[7]

Now, the federal government is looking to take further action to prohibit the app entirely.[8] Most recently, a group of bipartisan U.S. Senators introduced a bill on March 7, 2023, aimed at dealing with technology companies that are based in adversary countries.[9] The bill, if passed, would create a new government process for reviewing potential risks that are inherent in the use of foreign technology and blocking technology found to be too dangerous.[10] Titled the RESTRICT Act (“Restricting the Emergence of Security Threats that Risk Information and Communications Technology”), this bill would require the Commerce Department to establish procedures that “identify, deter, disrupt, prevent, prohibit and mitigate” risks that the U.S. believes are linked to foreign technology.[11] If passed, the bill would grant more governmental authority for the policing of apps and services that are viewed as risks to U.S. users’ data security.[12] This would allow the U.S. government to specifically target TikTok if it wanted to.[13] The Biden Administration has suggested that the RESTRICT Act should go further than is currently proposed, and simply ban TikTok outright.[14] It is unclear at this point in time how the White House will either support or modify the RESTRICT Act; however, it appears that the President has already attempted but failed to mitigate some of the potential risks associated with TikTok.[15] Ongoing private negotiations have already occurred between TikTok and the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, but no agreement was reached between the two parties regarding how TikTok may continue to operate in the U.S. without creating a national security risk.[16] It appears that the lack of success arising from these negotiation is what has prompted the Biden Administration to turn to Congress to pass legislation that will ban TikTok.[17] In the upcoming months, it will be important to follow if the RESTRICT Act is passed as it currently stands, or if the Act will reworked to take an even more aggressive stance against TikTok.

 

 

 

 

 

[1] Jennifer Calfas, TikTok Bans on Government Phones are Increasing. Here’s What to Know., Wall St. J. (Jan. 26, 2023), https://www.wsj.com/articles/tiktok-banned-states-devices-11673493296?mod=article_inline.

[2] Id.

[3] Id.

[4] Aaron Schaffer, There are TikTok Bans in Nearly Two Dozen States, Wash. Post (Jan. 10, 2023), https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/01/10/there-are-tiktok-bans-nearly-two-dozen-states/.

[5] Calfas, supra note 1.

[6] Schaffer, supra note 2.

[7] Bobby Allyn, Biden Approves Banning TikTok from Federal Government Phones, NPR (Dec. 30, 2022) https://www.npr.org/2022/12/20/1144519602/congress-is-about-to-ban-tiktok-from-u-s-government-phones.

[8] Calfas, supra note 1.

[9] John D. McKinnion, TikTok Faces More Scrutiny in New Senate Bill, Wall St. J. (Mar. 7, 2023), https://www.wsj.com/articles/tiktok-faces-more-scrutiny-in-new-senate-bill-f955eccd?page=1.

[10] Id.

[11] Id.

[12] Id.

[13] David McCabe, White House Said to Consider Pushing Congress on Dealing With TikTok, N.Y. Times (Mar. 6, 2023), https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/06/technology/white-house-congress-on-tiktok.html.

[14] Id.

[15] Id.

[16] Id.

[17] Id.

 

 

 

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