Congressional Republicans are leading a new effort to encourage Congress to ban the use of the social media platform TikTok due to possible security threats.
Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) and Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-TX) led a coalition of 17 Republicans who urged the Senate Rules Committee and the Committee on House Administration to block fellow members of Congress from using TikTok in a letter sent on Monday.
RESTRICT ACT AUTHORS BLAME TIKTOK FOR ATTACKS ON PROPOSED RESTRICTIONS
“We urge you to amend the House and Senate rules to bar members of Congress from continued use of TikTok and take any other appropriate measures to mitigate the risks of this de-facto, spyware app,” the GOP lawmakers wrote.
Referencing a House Energy and Commerce Committee hearing on TikTok last month, they wrote it “became blatantly clear to the public that the China-based app is mining data and potentially spying on American citizens.”
The lawmakers called the continued use of TikTok by members of Congress despite past advisory warnings of TikTok’s data vulnerabilities “troublesome.”
“Some members of Congress who regularly use the app have minimized the security threat to our nation, and their defense is not compelling, considering there are several popular social media apps that are not at the same risk for the potential transfer of sensitive, private information to an adversarial foreign government,” the letter continued.
Congressional lawmakers across the aisle have attempted to mitigate TikTok’s reach. Sens. John Thune (R-SD) and Mark Warner (D-VA) are the leads on the RESTRICT Act, which gives the Commerce Department the ability to restrict technology deals tied to countries that are of national concern to the U.S. The six countries listed that have adversarial relationships with the U.S. are China, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Russia, and Venezuela. The Biden administration has expressed support for the bill.
The RESTRICT Act has been slammed for fears of broad governmental overreach beyond TikTok and infringing on free speech.
“Although the primary targets of this legislation are companies like Tik-Tok, the language of the bill could potentially be used to block or disrupt cryptocurrency transactions and, in extreme cases, block Americans’ access to open source tools or protocols like Bitcoin,” wrote the Coin Center, a nonprofit group focused on cryptocurrency research and advocacy, last month.
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Montana became the first state to ban TikTok completely on all personal devices on Friday, a move that goes beyond banning TikTok on governmental platforms.
Despite the criticisms from lawmakers, advertising on TikTok remains high. Advertising on the social media platform grew by 11% in March.
