Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Mark Warner is set to unveil a bill Tuesday that would allow the US to ban the popular video-sharing app TikTok and other Chinese technology, according to a person familiar with the matter.
(Bloomberg) — Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Mark Warner is set to unveil a bill Tuesday that would allow the US to ban the popular video-sharing app TikTok and other Chinese technology, according to a person familiar with the matter.
The measure, one of many being proposed to restrict Bytedance Ltd.’s TikTok, would give the US the power to ban or prohibit foreign technology when necessary, said the person, who asked not to be identified discussing private deliberations.
Speaking on Fox News Sunday, Warner had called it “a broad bipartisan bill” that would be co-sponsored by Republican John Thune of South Dakota.
Lawmakers say the measures are intended to counter what they say is the threat that China will steal American users’ data. Last week, legislation authorizing the US to ban TikTok in the US advanced through the House Foreign Affairs Committee, led by Michael McCaul, a Texas Republican.
The text of the Warner bill has yet to be released. CNBC reported earlier that it would be made public Tuesday and that Warner, a Virginia Democrat, and Thune would hold a briefing at 3 p.m.
ByteDance has sought to distance the service from its Chinese roots, including by hosting user data in Singapore, though threats of a ban in the US have lingered for years. President Donald Trump was nearly able to force the sale of TikTok’s US operations to Microsoft Corp. and Oracle Corp. before his term expired.
TikTok Hawks in Congress Weigh Options to Restrict App From US
TikTok Inc. Chief Operating Officer Vanessa Pappas during a Senate hearing in September that the company has strict controls over access to data and where it’s stored, and that the company wouldn’t give that data to the Chinese government.
–With assistance from Anna Edgerton.
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