The Biden administration has been negotiating with TikTok for two years to address government concerns that the popular Chinese-owned video app poses a national security risk. But as talks drag on, state and federal lawmakers have grown impatient and have taken matters into their own hands.
In recent weeks, at least 14 states have banned TikTok on government-issued devices. In Congress, lawmakers are expected to vote this week on a sweeping spending bill that includes a ban on TikTok on all federal government devices. A separate bipartisan bill, introduced in Congress last week, would ban the app for everyone in the United States. In addition, the Indiana Attorney General has sued TikTok, accusing the company of being misleading about the security and privacy risks the app poses.
What began as a Trump administration effort a few years ago has turned into an increasingly bipartisan issue. Politicians from both sides share concerns that the app could eavesdrop on users in the United States and put sensitive data, including location data, in the hands of the Chinese government.
Federal officials have also expressed fears about how China could use the app to influence Americans through videos delivered through TikTok’s algorithm that pushes highly customized videos to users based on their profiles and interests. FBI director Christopher Wray warned last month that the Chinese government could use TikTok for “influence operations,” or attempt to use the app to infiltrate and compromise devices.
“This is a widespread concern right now — it’s not just Republicans, it’s not just Democrats,” said Illinois Democrat Representative Raja Krishnamoorthi, who last week joined Wisconsin’s Representative Mike Gallagher, a Republican, and other legislators to pass legislation. announced to ban TikTok in the United States.
“It’s going to get even louder in the coming year,” he added, “unless significant changes are made to the way TikTok is run in the United States and the ownership structure is adjusted.”
The bans are part of escalating tensions between the United States and China over global technology and economic leadership. The Biden administration and Beijing have introduced massive national government spending programs to build technology supply chains within their own borders, effectively ending decades of global trade policies, in an arms race for chip production and the production of electric vehicles and batteries.
In Washington and state capitals, criticism of TikTok and other Chinese companies has become a common topic of conversation.
US officials have argued that TikTok, which is owned by China-based ByteDance and has an estimated 100 million users in the United States, may share sensitive data about Americans’ location, personal habits and interests with the Chinese government. The app is especially popular with young people. According to the Pew Research Center, two-thirds of American teens use TikTok, making it second only to YouTube.
TikTok has long denied sharing data with Chinese government officials and has sought to distance itself from its parent company. The company points to its Cayman Islands incorporation and offices in New York, Los Angeles, Singapore and Washington, D.C. as proof that the agency’s operations are anchored outside of China.
But Washington remains sceptical. The investigation into the app — run by a multi-agency group called the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States — began under the Trump administration. In 2020, President Donald J. Trump sought to ban the service from Apple’s and Google’s app stores unless the company was sold to a US company. But federal courts struck down the ban and Mr. Trump left office without resolving the issue.
Since then, the company has been engaged in negotiations with the Biden administration over changes to how the company stores and accesses data from US users.
In a presentation to Biden administration and intelligence officials, TikTok laid out a comprehensive plan to have US user data stored on Oracle servers and to erect walls that would block the possibility of access to that data by ByteDance employees or Chinese government officials.
Brooke Oberwetter, a spokeswoman for TikTok, said in an email Monday that the plan would “meaningfully address any security concerns raised at both the federal and state levels,” and that the company would provide government and independent oversight. to ease the worry. about its content recommendations and access to US user data.
“Politicians concerned about national security should encourage the government to complete its national security assessment of TikTok,” Ms Oberwetter wrote. “Further measures are unnecessary and punitive; they send a chilling message to foreign tech companies looking to do business in the US and provide globally interoperable experiences to compete with other global platforms.
A spokesperson for the Treasury Department, which oversees the app’s national security rating, declined to comment. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre declined to take a position last week on legislation banning TikTok on federal government devices.
“I know this just happened, so we’re going to let Congress move forward with their processes on this,” she said. She added that TikTok was one of many uses already banned “on the White House and other federal government work equipment” for security reasons.
In September, President Biden directed the United States Foreign Investment Committee to review whether deals it monitors have the potential for a foreign entity to benefit from Americans’ data. The administration has also been working on another executive order that would increase scrutiny over how foreign actors might get Americans’ data. It’s not clear if – or if – it will be released.
Lawmakers are tired of waiting to see how it plays out.
“I’m running out of patience,” Sen. Mark Warner, a Virginia Democrat and member of the intelligence committee, said in an email. He has not joined legislation to ban TikTok, but has been an outspoken critic of the company and expressed support for states that have banned TikTok on government devices.
A bill introduced by a Republican senator, Josh Hawley of Missouri, that would ban the app on federal government devices was included in the omnibus spending bill that is expected to be voted on in the coming days. The bill, which passed the Senate, would be the broadest restriction on the app to date.
“I hope this is a wake-up call for the administration to move,” said Mr. Hawley in an interview. “This bill is an important and important step against TikTok and sends a signal to all Americans that if it is not safe for someone who has a federal device to have it, my child should have it on his or her phone. Maybe not.”
Republican governors, in particular, were active on the issue, announcing a ban on the app on state government devices. Governors in Alabama, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Maryland, Montana, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah and Virginia have all announced bans in the past three weeks. Nebraska banned TikTok from state-issued devices in 2020.
Some of the states’ rules include a ban on other Chinese apps and telecommunications providers such as WeChat and Huawei. Maryland’s action extended to certain Russian-influenced products such as Kaspersky, an anti-virus software.
The Pentagon warned military departments in December 2019 of the “potential risk associated with using the TikTok app,” leading to a ban on the app on government units of the Army, Marine Corps, Air Force, and Coast Guard.
The restrictions on government-issued devices can be enforced through software that blocks or restricts the download of certain apps on official devices. The rules do not prevent a government employee from downloading the app on a personal device.
A ban on TikTok for all US users would create more challenges. Despite warnings from officials, consumers continue to push for the app and could push back. In addition, the bipartisan bill in Congress restricting consumer use of the app raises concerns about the First Amendment, said Kurt Opsahl, the general counsel of Electronic Frontier Foundation, a group that advocates for free speech.
“It takes away a means of communication for people using the app as a way to present themselves to the world and in some cases for political speeches and commentary,” Opsahl said. “A total ban is not the right solution to the problem.”
