Bill To Ban Or Prohibit Foreign Technology Such As Tiktok To Be Introduced By Senators

Senate Intelligence Committee Chair Mark Warner, a Democrat from Virginia, announced on Sunday that he will introduce a comprehensive, bipartisan measure this week that will set up a strategy for outlawing or restricting foreign technologies, such as the well-known video-sharing app TikTok.

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More than 100 million Americans use the short-form video app TikTok. Due to the fact that the app's parent firm, ByteDance, is a privately held Chinese company, worries over data privacy have been circulating around the app.

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Sen. John Thune, R-South Dakota, and Warner are collaborating on the legislation, according to Warner, who also expressed concern about the TikTok content that Americans are exposed to.

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He said on "Fox News Sunday" that although "they are stealing data from Americans and not keeping it safe," "what concerns me with more TikTok is that it could be a propaganda weapon."

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The Warner legislation follows U.S. Wednesday's vote by the House Foreign Affairs Committee advanced a measure that would provide TikTok ban authority to President Joe Biden. The bill cleared the Republican-controlled panel 24-16 along political lines, with total GOP backing and no Democratic votes.

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Nevertheless, politicians still have a bit of a way to go before any genuine prohibition could be put into effect, even with the legislation that was presented to the committee last week.

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If this bill passes the Republican-controlled House, it would then need to be approved by the Democratic-majority Senate, which would be difficult given the Democratic opposition that has already been expressed. If the Senate did approve it, Biden would then have to choose whether to sign it or veto it.

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TikTok has faced issues from US government before, as former President Donald Trump announced his intention to impose an executive order banning the app in 2020. Some governors have pulled TikTok from state computer networks, including those at public colleges, and Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., reiterated efforts for a total countrywide ban in January. TikTok was prohibited from government devices by Congress as part of a bipartisan spending package in December.