Proposed Bipartisan Bill Aims to Sever TikTok’s Ties with App Stores

Lawmakers are proposing a new law aimed at regulating how app stores handle TikTok. This bipartisan bill aims to restrict app stores and web hosts from offering TikTok unless it cuts its ties with its Chinese parent company, ByteDance.

(Photo : Solen Feyissa from Unsplash)

TikTok has recently uncovered a glaring fact about the Russia-Ukraine war. According to the video-viewing platform, there's a lot of pro-Russian propaganda spreading all over the app.

Regulating How App Stores Handle TikTok

After a period of relatively little oversight from Congress, legislators are now pushing for action to force TikTok to separate from its Chinese parent company, ByteDance.

Led by Chair Mike Gallagher (R-WI) and Ranking Member Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL), the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party has introduced the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act.

As supported by 19 lawmakers, the bill seeks to ban the distribution of apps controlled by ByteDance, such as TikTok, unless they sever their connections with the Chinese tech giant.

If the bill becomes law, it would impose fines on app stores and web hosting services that offer TikTok and other specified apps unless they separate from Chinese ownership.

The fines for non-compliant app stores would be based on the number of US users who used the foreign-owned app, with each user potentially costing $5,000. The enforcement of this law would be overseen by the US attorney general.

The legislation also establishes a framework allowing the president to identify additional social media firms from adversary nations such as China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea.

Should these designated companies distribute their apps in the US, they would be required to sever connections to continue operating in the country.

First Initiative from Congress

This marks the foremost significant legislative initiative in Congress addressing national security apprehensions arising from TikTok's ownership since the introduction of the RESTRICT Act in the Senate last year.

The impetus for this bill followed intense scrutiny from the House Energy and Commerce Committee directed at TikTok's CEO concerning its Chinese affiliations. This moment represented the peak of congressional momentum surrounding discussions of a potential TikTok ban or enforced divestment.

However, apprehensions regarding the extent of the RESTRICT Act and the executive branch's authority it would entail ultimately led to a halt in progress on the matter.

The formulation of the new legislation aimed to circumvent potential constitutional apprehensions. For instance, while it identifies ByteDance, it is specifically designed to avoid being perceived as punitive towards a singular entity.

This approach is partly manifested in the bill's provision, allowing ByteDance a 165-day window to evade app bans by divesting them within that period. Additionally, it establishes a procedural mechanism for potential application to other applications.

Despite being under Chinese ownership, TikTok asserts that it stores US user data on servers located outside of China and is actively pursuing strategies to distance US data from ByteDance's Chinese employees.

In response to the proposed bill, TikTok spokesperson Alex Haurek criticized it as a direct prohibition of TikTok, regardless of the authors' intentions to cloak it otherwise.

Haurek expressed concerns that such legislation could impinge on the First Amendment rights of 170 million Americans and hinder 5 million small businesses reliant on TikTok for growth and job creation.