A key member of the U.S. Congress dealing with China affairs said after a meeting with an executive of TikTok, the overseas version of TikTok, that he is still seeking to pass legislation to completely ban the widely used short video platform from operating in the United States.
TikTok went to Capitol Hill to introduce the user data management plan, the chairman of the China Affairs Select Committee said it was not convincing
Republican Representative Mike Gallagher (Mike Gallagher), who serves as the first chairman of the newly formed China Affairs Select Committee of the House of Representatives, and Michael Beckerman (Michael Beckerman, head of public policy for TikTok Americas Division) on Wednesday (February 2, 2023) ) and others met to discuss the US user data management plan that the company plans to launch. Afterwards, a spokesman for Senator Gallagher said the councilors “thanked them for their time but found their case to be weak.” The spokesman said Senator Gallagher still planned to launch a A bill to ban TikTok across the board.
Reuters reported that TikTok’s Beckman responded in a statement that the company “looks forward to learning more about the specific concerns that Senator Gallagher has that are not covered by our comprehensive data plan. “The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) ordered TikTok’s Chinese parent company ByteDance to spin off TikTok in 2020 amid concerns that U.S. user data could be handed over to the Chinese government.
TikTok, which has more than 100 million U.S. users, has been trying to reassure Washington that the personal data of U.S. citizens cannot be accessed and that its content cannot be manipulated by the Chinese Communist Party or anyone else influenced by Beijing.
For the past two years, the company has been negotiating with the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, hoping to formulate a plan for managing user data in the United States to persuade Washington to allow TikTok to continue operating in the United States.
The White House on Friday declined to comment on CFIUS’ negotiations with TikTok, or whether it would support a blanket ban on TikTok. President Joe Biden signed a new law earlier this year that bans the use of TikTok on devices owned by the federal government and both houses of Congress.
At present, dozens of states in the United States have announced that TikTok is not allowed to be used on state government equipment. The Republican-dominated House Foreign Affairs Committee plans to vote this month on a bill to ban TikTok across the board. The House Energy and Commerce Committee plans to hold a dedicated hearing on March 23. TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew has promised to testify at that time.
(This article is based on a Reuters report.)
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