President Biden declared on Friday his readiness to sign legislation that could result in a ban on TikTok, the widely popular video-sharing app owned by the China-based company ByteDance. “If they pass it, I’ll sign it,” stated Mr. Biden, whose 2024 campaign recently joined the app, addressing reporters.
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The bill, named the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, would mandate ByteDance to divest TikTok within six months or face removal from U.S. app stores and web-hosting services if ties are not severed. Scheduled for a vote on the House floor next week, the measure is deemed a “critical national security bill” by House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, a Louisiana Republican.
A one-page memo from the Justice Department to Congress members, obtained by CBS News, outlined the perceived dangers posed by TikTok, citing its collection of “tremendous amounts of sensitive data” and the potential for Chinese government influence campaigns.
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National security officials and lawmakers have long raised concerns about the app’s potential risks, cautioning against its use for espionage, misinformation, or propaganda dissemination by the Chinese government.
