A sweeping bill introduced by a group of bipartisan senators earlier this month has caught national attention as Americans await to see whether TikTok has a future in the U.S. and what that might look like for everyday social media users.
Congress appears to be moving unanimously towards the Restricting the Emergence of Security Threats that Risk Information and Communications Technology Act, or RESTRICT Act, which would give broad regulative power to the secretary of commerce over tech produced in China, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Russia and Venezuela—countries that all have adversarial relations with the U.S.
Last week, TikTok CEO Shou Chew testified in front of lawmakers that TikTok had never received a request from the Chinese government to hand over data on American users and that the company would never comply with one. But Washington remains on alert about the national security threats that the Chinese-owned app poses.
While the RESTRICT Act doesn't cite TikTok or its owner, ByteDance, by name, the senators who introduced the bill have repeatedly pointed to the surveillance fears that the app raises and the legislation has already been referred to as a so-called TikTok ban.
The ban's criminal penalties, which include a fine up to a million dollar and/or imprisonment of up to 20 years, has caused some alarm among the bill's observers, who have questioned whether some TikTok fanatics might face jail time for using a Virtual Private Network (VPN) to get around the ban and access the app.
But a spokesperson for Senator Mark Warner, the bill's sponsor, told Newsweek that it would not apply to individual users.
"Under the terms of the bill, someone must be engaged in 'sabotage or subversion' of communications technology in the U.S., causing 'catastrophic effects' on U.S. critical infrastructure, or 'interfering in, or altering the result' of a federal election in order for criminal penalties to apply," Warner's communications director, Rachel Cohen, said.
"The bill is squarely aimed at companies like Kaspersky, Huawei and TikTok that create systemic risks to the United States' national security, not individual users," she clarified.
While the RESTRICT Act seems widely supported across party lines, there is a small group of progressive critics in Congress, including Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who made her first TikTok to address her opposition.
"If we want to make a decision as significant as banning TikTok, and we believe, or someone believes, that there is really important information that the public deserves to know about why such a decision would be justified, that information should be shared," the congresswoman said in the video.
The legislation, which has been proposed but not voted on yet, could also potentially thwart another bill introduced by Senator Josh Hawley.
In January, the Republican senator introduced the No TikTok on United States Devices Act, which specifically names TikTok and ByteDance, which would implement a nationwide TikTok ban. It also follows his No TikTok on Government Devices Act, which unanimously passed the Senate and became law on December 29.
But because the RESTRICT Act is being backed by a number of GOP senators, it could put them at odds against Hawley, who was hoping to see unanimous consent again. Among the Republican names listed as co-sponsors of the RESTRICT Act are Senators John Thune, Deb Fischer, Jerry Moran, Dan Sullivan, Susan Collins and Mitt Romney.
The sponsors of the RESTRICT Act have also argued that a more "comprehensive" approach needs to be taken in respect to foreign technology, whereas Hawley's bill targets TikTok in particular.
"We need a comprehensive, risk-based approach that proactively tackles sources of potentially dangerous technology before they gain a foothold in America, so we aren't playing Whac-A-Mole and scrambling to catch up once they're already ubiquitous," Warner said in a statement.
"Congress needs to stop taking a piecemeal approach when it comes to technology from adversarial nations that pose national security risks," Thune added. "Our country needs a process in place to address these risks, which is why I'm pleased to work with Senator Warner to establish a holistic, methodical approach to address the threats posed by technology platforms—like TikTok—from foreign adversaries."
Nonetheless, Hawley plans to bring his bill to the Senate floor this week in hopes of getting it passed unanimously, Punchbowl News reported on Tuesday.
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Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Katherine Fung is a Newsweek reporter based in New York City. Her focus is reporting on U.S. and world politics. ... Read more
