US politicians are still trying to ban TikTok in 2022, and the latest effort comes from Republican Senator Marco Rubio. Over the last few years, various parties have had concerns about the app’s Chinese origins and how owner ByteDance Ltd. could use data collected from US citizens for nefarious purposes. The bipartisan bill Rubio plans to introduce, The ANTI-SOCIAL CCP Act (the text of which can be read here), would block any social media company from Russia or China from conducting transactions in the US.
Will TikTok be banned in 2022?
Politicians from various branches of government have discussed banning TikTok in the US over the past few years. The service’s popularity has given ByteDance access to data collected from tens of millions of US citizens, which is worrying considering the company is based in China. The reason for this is that the Chinese government has unlimited access to this information, and there’s a fear that it could be used to manipulate or spy on Americans.
According to the official press release from Rubio’s office, the bill, called The ANTI-SOCIAL CCP Act (Averting the National Threat of Internet Surveillance, Oppressive Censorship and Influence, and Algorithmic Learning by the Chinese Communist Party), will be introduced by Rubio and sponsored by representatives Mike Gallagher (R-WI) and Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL), will target any social media company headquartered in China or Russia.
The act would ban “all transactions from any social media company in, or under the influence of, China, Russia, and several other foreign countries of concern.” While TikTok is the largest company that would be affected, platforms like Russia’s VK would be banned as well.
In response, a TikTok representative stated:
“It is troubling that rather than encouraging the administration to conclude its national security review of TikTok, some members of Congress have decided to push for a politically-motivated ban that will do nothing to advance the national security of the United States.”
TikTok has vowed to secure US user data outside of China, which it claims will prevent the Chinese government from accessing it. However, the US isn’t the only one that’s taken aim at ByteDance.
The Chinese government has forced the company to take on more Chinese Communist Part censors in the past and give preference to hiring party members. The company was also forced to report user content on its platforms that questions the official CCP version of the nation’s history. It also engaged in the censorship of the 2022 protests of the country’s draconian approach to COVID-19.
