Top Republicans press Biden to force sale of TikTok
Christopher Hutton
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Republican lawmakers called on President Joe Biden to follow up on a previous national security finding about TikTok to force the company to sell its platform in the United States.
Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC), the top Republican on the Senate Banking Committee, and Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-NC), the top Republican on the Financial Services Committee, sent a letter to Biden on Friday asking that he force TikTok’s parent company ByteDance to sell its stakes in the video app based on a national security order filed by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States in 2020 during the Trump administration. The committee found that TikTok was a threat to national security due to the app surveilling Americans.
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Scott and McHenry are applying pressure while Congress is debating legislation to ban or regulate TikTok.
“The United States must not ignore this transparent threat to influence our nation’s prerogatives and jurisdiction. We urge you to stand up to China and enforce this directive now,” the two lawmakers wrote. The pair said that if the White House failed to handle the order, Congress would resolve the matter themselves.
Sens. John Thune (R-SD) and Mark Warner (D-VA) are pushing for the passage of the RESTRICT Act, which would give the Commerce Department additional powers to regulate tech business deals related to nations of concern, such as China or Iran. The RESTRICT Act has been the target of much scrutiny from critics, alleging it would be an unnecessary extension of government authority.
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Sens. Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Josh Hawley (R-MO) have proposed outright bans on TikTok for months over its data collection practices and relationship with the Chinese Communist Party.
TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew appeared before Congress in April. Lawmakers on both sides questioned the Singapore-based executive over the company’s practices.