House Republicans are drawing up a bill to ban TikTok from federal workers as speculation swirls that the China-based company is stealing information from its U.S. users.
The measure is being proposed by Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) and is going through the Judiciary Committee. “We’re working on something right now,” a Republican aide said.
This comes after Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla) and Sen. Mike Gallagher (R-Wisc.) vowed to introduce legislation to ban TikTok in the U.S., warning that the widely popular social media platform could give the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) the ability to "subtly indoctrinate American citizens.”
"TikTok is a major threat to U.S. national security," the senators said, adding “unless TikTok and its algorithm can be separated from Beijing, the app’s use in the United States will continue to jeopardize our country’s safety and pave the way for a Chinese-influenced tech landscape here.”
“With this app, Beijing could also collect sensitive national security information from U.S. government employees and develop profiles on millions of Americans to use for blackmail or espionage,” Rubio and Gallagher said.
Gov. Kristi Noem (R-S.D.) also implemented a ban on TikTok saying that “South Dakota will have no part in the intelligence gathering operations of nations who hate us.”
Additionally, FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr also called for TikTok to be banned in the U.S., arguing that the Biden Administration is only helping the CCP gain insight on Americans.
In recent years, TikTok’s popularity has surged. A Pew Research study found that 10 percent of Americans use the CCP-controlled app as a source for daily news.