U.S. Congress Will Move Forward With A Ban On TikTok After CEO’s Testimony

U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said on March 26th that the Chamber would be pushing legislation to address the national security concerns raised by TikTok and protect Americans from the technology of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). TikTok currently has 150 million active users in America.

In the U.S., there are growing calls to ban TikTok, the short-form social video platform owned by Chinese company ByteDance, through bipartisan legislation that would give the Biden administration the legal authority to impose a ban on it. The app has also been banned from being installed on systems and devices at U.S. government agencies.

Kevin McCarthy Tweeted Sunday, “It’s very concerning that the CEO of TikTok can’t be honest and admit what we already know to be true-China has access to TikTok user data.”

Mike Gallagher, chairman of the House select committee on U.S. competition with China, also said that TikTok has actually united Republicans with Democrats because they fear CCP control of America’s premier media platform. TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew’s testimony did not assuage lawmakers’ concerns, but rather “incremented the likelihood that Congress will take some action.”