RELEASE: Gottheimer-led Bipartisan Legislation Overwhelmingly Passes House to Protect Americans from TikTok

Controlled by Chinese Government

Disinformation and Data Mining Machine Used to Undermine Our Democracy

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, March 13, 2024, bipartisan legislation co-led by U.S. Representative Josh Gottheimer (NJ-5), with Representative Mike Gallagher (WI-8) and Raja Krishnamoorthi (IL-8), and the House Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party, the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, overwhelmingly passed the House with 352 to 65 votes. 

Gottheimer is a member of the Select Committee on Intelligence and the Ranking Member of the National Security Agency and Cyber Subcommittee. 

The legislation prevents ByteDance applications, including TikTok, that are subject to the control of the Chinese government, a known foreign adversary, from being available through the app store or web hosting services in the U.S. 

In addition, the bill creates a process for the President to designate and prohibit certain, specifically defined social media applications from being offered on U.S. based app stores and web hosting if they are owned by a foreign adversary and pose a national security risk. 

“Today’s vote demonstrated our nation’s dedication to fighting back against the Chinese Communist Party — a known adversary — and their malign activities. The CCP has made it abundantly clear that it is willing to leverage technology to spew disinformation, undermine democracy and elections, and promote antisemitic propaganda. Using TikTok, the Chinese government has the ability to control what an entire generation of Americans see and consume every single day,” said Congressman Gottheimer (NJ-5). “In the wrong hands, this data is an enormous asset.” 

###