The Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act

Ahead of the House’s expected consideration of H.R. 7521 tomorrow, here’s the truth about how the bill protects Americans from the national security threat posed by applications controlled by foreign adversaries: 

Claim: H.R. 7521 bans TikTok in the United States. 

Rating: FALSE.  

As long as TikTok divests from its parent company ByteDance, which is beholden to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), TikTok can continue to operate in the United States without interruption. TikTok can choose to protect their American users, or they can side with the CCP. The choice to end Americans use of its platform is strictly TikTok’s. 

Claim: H.R. 7521 is unconstitutional and violates the First Amendment. 

Rating: FALSE.  

The bill does not regulate speech. It is focused entirely on the ownership of an application by a foreign adversary country—not the content of speech it hosts. The bill provides a clear path for TikTok to continue its operations as long as it resolves the national security risks posed by its ownership structure. 

Claim: H.R. 7521 violates the Constitution’s Bill of Attainder Clause. 

Rating: FALSE.  

The bill does not run afoul of the Constitution’s Bill of Attainder Clause. The case law here is clear. H.R. 7521 takes an appropriate step to protect America’s national security interests in a forward looking and ongoing way. Further, this bill does not apply solely to TikTok—it applies to other applications that are controlled by a foreign adversary of the United States, now and in the future.

Claim: TikTok is not controlled by the Chinese Communist Party.  

Rating: FALSE.  

The People’s Republic of China (PRC) National Intelligence Law of 2017 requires PRC individuals and entities to support PRC intelligence services. Beijing Bytedance Technology is a Chinese internet technology company headquartered in Beijing. It is operating in the United States through a holding company, Bytedance Ltd, which is the parent company of TikTok. TikTok was used to spy on American journalists and surveil American user data. Internal TikTok recordings revealed, “everything is seen in China.” Former TikTok employees have attested ByteDance is closely involved in the company’s decision-making and product development. 

Claim: TikTok is no different than any other social media app. 

Rating: FALSE.  

TikTok is controlled by the Chinese Communist Party through its parent company, ByteDance. A recent Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) report showed that the CCP was using TikTok to target political candidates and influence the 2022 election cycle. Internal TikTok recordings have revealed “everything is seen in China” and the CCP “maintained supreme access” to TikTok’s data. If nations that want to undermine America can access and manipulate Americans’ data through a specific app, that poses a unique threat and requires a narrow and targeted response.

Claim: This will allow the President to prohibit any app for any reason. 

Rating: FALSE.  

This bill DOES NOT empower the Executive Branch to define “foreign adversary” and prohibit any apps owned by its own definition of “foreign adversary.” The bill defines a foreign adversary-controlled application as subject to the control of China, Russia, Iran, or North Korea. Only Congress can change the definition used in this bill. This is not a blank check for the Biden administration, or future administrations, to restrict whatever apps it wants. 

Claim: TikTok is already separating itself from China through Project Texas. 

Rating: FALSE. 

TikTok’s “Project Texas” would continue to allow personnel in Beijing to access U.S. user data. After promising to wall off American users’ data, this data continues to be accessible from inside China. TikTok personnel have thrown cold water on the idea that U.S. users’ data will be adequately protected under any new arrangement. TikTok’s own Project Texas employees say ByteDance managers continue to request U.S. data. Many of the Project Texas data protections have devolved into what one employee called “a wink and a nod.” 

Claim: This bill will hurt small businesses and content creators. 

Rating: FALSE.  

If TikTok is not divested from ByteDance, TikTok must allow its creators and users to extract all of their account data. This ensures that creators and users retain their content and can move to a different platform. Furthermore, if TikTok actually cared about small businesses and content creators on its platform like they claim, they would divest and remain operational in the United States. 

Claim: H.R. 7521 applies to all social media companies or websites. 

Rating: FALSE.  

The bill does NOT apply to all websites. It only applies to applications and websites controlled by a foreign adversary—China, Russia, Iran, North Korea—that pose a clear national security threat.

H.R. 7521, the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, is bipartisan legislation that will protect Americans by preventing foreign adversaries, such as China, from targeting, surveilling, and manipulating the American people through online applications like TikTok.  

Here’s what experts and top voices are saying about the bill: 

Speaker of the House of Representatives Mike Johnson:

“I support the bill being marked up by the Energy & Commerce committee. It’s an important bipartisan measure to take on China, our largest geopolitical foe, which is actively undermining our economy and security.”

Americans for Prosperity Chief Government Affairs Officer Brent Gardner: 

“The fact is that we live in a world where Americans’ phones are being weaponized against them by a foreign adversary, and we cannot sit back and let that happen. We would never want the U.S. federal government to have the power to censor, surveil, and manipulate Americans—we absolutely should not permit that abuse of power by the Chinese government through TikTok.” 

Heritage Foundation Tech Policy Center Director Kara Frederick: 

“The Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act is a crucial step forward in this fight and will be a powerful tool in our arsenal to put an end to this noxious, CCP-beholden surveillance platform once and for all.”

American Free Enterprise Chamber of Commerce

"AmFree strongly supports HR 7521 addressing critical risks from TikTok due to CCP control. CCP must divest from TikTok to address national security interests."

Heritage Action Executive Vice President Ryan Walker: 

“Heritage Action is glad to see members of Congress from both sides of the aisle recognize the very real national security threat of apps controlled by our adversaries like China. TikTok is a dangerous tool used by the CCP to spy on, exploit, and mislead the American people. The Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act is an important step toward addressing the root problem and getting the CCP out of the pockets of hundreds of millions of Americans.” 

Former National Security Advisor Robert C. O’Brien:

“National Security officials all agree on one thing: TikTok poses a clear and present threat to America. We cannot allow the Chinese Communist Party, our chief adversary and an organization notoriously devoted to propaganda and censorship, to control the platform that America’s youth overwhelmingly relies on for news. To do so would be akin to allowing Soviet control of several major American newspapers and TV channels during the Cold War. Congress must pass this bill and finish the job the Trump Administration started in 2020: force a sale of TikTok to remove it from CCP control, or prohibit its operation in the United States.”

Director of the America First Policy Institute’s China Policy Initiative Adam Savit:

“TikTok is a Chinese Communist Party (CCP) controlled app that acts as a data-harvesting weapon disguised as a social media platform. It has become a dominant force in American youth culture, exposing private information to the CCP without the end-user’s knowledge. It would become a potent weapon of information warfare in the event of war with our adversaries. TikTok must be required to divest from its CCP parent company ByteDance to remain in the U.S. This act would neutralize the threat of CCP exploitation while still preserving our cherished freedom of speech.” 

America2100 Executive Director Mike Needham: 

“China’s fingerprints are all over many of the most pressing challenges facing our country. It is unfathomable we allow a propaganda tool they control to burrow its way deeper and deeper into our society. The House must pass the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act immediately.”

FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr:

“TikTok’s own conduct makes clear that it is beholden to the CCP and presents an unacceptable threat to U.S. national security. I applaud this strong bipartisan bill, which would definitely resolve this threat.”

Former Vice President and Advancing American Freedom Founder Mike Pence:

“TikTok has been banned on all US government devices because it is a national security threat and acts as the puppet strings of Communist China to push their propaganda on the American people, and it cannot be allowed to continue to operate in our country unchecked. The tensions with Communist China continue to mount and the United States must take the necessary steps to protect our country. This legislation is one of those necessary steps, and Advancing American Freedom urges Congress to move this legislation quickly through the markup process and bring it to the House floor for a vote.”

Hudson Institute Senior Fellow Rebeccah Heinrichs:

“The CCP’s control of TikTok must come to an abrupt end. In contrast to previous approaches, this bill is narrow and direct. It’s a sniper rifle. It will immediately eliminate the driving force of the app’s toxicity.”

Digital Progress Institute President Joel Thayer:

“Great to see @HouseCommerce introduce legislation that will keep dangerous apps, like @tiktok_us in its current form, off our devices. It is a positive step to quell the national security concerns raised by these technologies.”

Executive Director of the Foundation for American Innovation Zach Graves

"Thanks to the hard work of Chairman Gallagher, as well as his colleagues on the Energy and Commerce Committee, Congress is taking a huge step toward stronger protections for the American people from the threats posed by CCP-controlled entities like TikTok. Not only does this effort address the TikTok problem, but it also creates an avenue to address the next TikTok. The House should take up the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act posthaste and the Senate should follow quickly behind. To all Members of Congress who have given lip service to countering the China tech threat, now is the time to put your money where your mouth is."

Deputy Director of the Consumer Choice Center Yaël Ossowski:

“Considering the CCP's unique hold on TikTok and ByteDance, and the data privacy threats to US consumers, a forced divestiture is a balanced and reasonable solution.” 

Digital First Project:

“The Digital First Project strongly supports the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act. For the past several years, policymakers on both sides of the aisle have explored different solutions to rein in TikTok. While we applauded many of those approaches, it is clear this proposal is the correct template going forward.” 

Washington, D.C. — House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) released a statement applauding H.R. 7521, the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, which passed out of the House today with a strong bipartisan vote of 352-65.

“H.R. 7521 is the result of diligent and bipartisan efforts to protect Americans’ data and address the serious national security threat posed by our enemies. Applications controlled by foreign adversaries can be weaponized to target, manipulate, and surveil millions of Americans. This cannot continue. I commend Energy and Commerce Ranking Member Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ) as well as our colleagues, Reps. Gallagher and Krishnamoorthi, for their leadership on this important legislation. I urge our colleagues in the Senate to act as swiftly as the House and advance this bill to the President’s desk.” 

H.R. 7521, the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, is a targeted approach to protect Americans from applications controlled by foreign adversaries, like TikTok. We know these applications are exploiting and weaponizing Americans’ data—posing a national security threat to the American people.

Don’t miss what top conservative voices are saying about the bill:

Americans for Prosperity Chief Government Affairs Officer Brent Gardner:  

“The fact is that we live in a world where Americans’ phones are being weaponized against them by a foreign adversary, and we cannot sit back and let that happen. We would never want the U.S. federal government to have the power to censor, surveil, and manipulate Americans—we absolutely should not permit that abuse of power by the Chinese government through TikTok.”

Heritage Action Executive Vice President Ryan Walker:

“Heritage Action is glad to see members of Congress from both sides of the aisle recognize the very real national security threat of apps controlled by our adversaries like China. TikTok is a dangerous tool used by the CCP to spy on, exploit, and mislead the American people. The Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act is an important step toward addressing the root problem and getting the CCP out of the pockets of hundreds of millions of Americans.”  

Heritage Foundation Tech Policy Center Director Kara Frederick:  

“The Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act is a crucial step forward in this fight and will be a powerful tool in our arsenal to put an end to this noxious, CCP-beholden surveillance platform once and for all.” 

Director of the America First Policy Institute’s China Policy Initiative Adam Savit: 

“TikTok is a Chinese Communist Party (CCP) controlled app that acts as a data-harvesting weapon disguised as a social media platform. It has become a dominant force in American youth culture, exposing private information to the CCP without the end-user’s knowledge. It would become a potent weapon of information warfare in the event of war with our adversaries. TikTok must be required to divest from its CCP parent company ByteDance to remain in the U.S. This act would neutralize the threat of CCP exploitation while still preserving our cherished freedom of speech.”

Independent Women’s Forum Senior Fellow Meaghan Mobbs:

"IW has repeatedly raised alarms about the potential harms of social media on both children and national well-being, singling out TikTok as a particularly perilous platform because of its ownership (ByteDance) and its pernicious algorithms. The former greenlights the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to collect and weaponize data collection against our citizens. The latter, purposefully engineered, identifies personal vulnerabilities and exploits them—not to offer caution, but to hook the user further. Taken together it is clear TikTok is a uniquely malevolent tool used by the CCP to undermine American societal values and destabilize the nation. The precise and targeted effort to remove the rot at the core by eliminating CCP control is desperately needed and long overdue."

Former Vice President and Advancing American Freedom Founder Mike Pence: 

“TikTok has been banned on all US government devices because it is a national security threat and acts as the puppet strings of Communist China to push their propaganda on the American people, and it cannot be allowed to continue to operate in our country unchecked. The tensions with Communist China continue to mount and the United States must take the necessary steps to protect our country. This legislation is one of those necessary steps, and Advancing American Freedom urges Congress to move this legislation quickly through the markup process and bring it to the House floor for a vote.”

Former National Security Advisor Robert C. O’Brien:

“National Security officials all agree on one thing: TikTok poses a clear and present threat to America. We cannot allow the Chinese Communist Party, our chief adversary and an organization notoriously devoted to propaganda and censorship, to control the platform that America’s youth overwhelmingly relies on for news. To do so would be akin to allowing Soviet control of several major American newspapers and TV channels during the Cold War. Congress must pass this bill and finish the job the Trump Administration started in 2020: force a sale of TikTok to remove it from CCP control, or prohibit its operation in the United States.”

American Compass Executive Director Oren Cass:

“Washington has finally awakened to an unavoidable reality: taking a hands-off approach to China is an invitation to the Chinese Communist Party to subvert our nation's economy, culture, and politics via companies it effectively controls. Supporting the American free market does not prevent us from resisting the CCP’s malign influence, it requires us to stand by our principles and act. Chairman Gallagher and Ranking Member Krishnamoorthi are providing invaluable leadership on this issue, tackling the challenge of TikTok head on. All members of Congress should support them in their effort."

American Principles Project (APP) Policy Director Jon Schweppe:

“We applaud the House Energy and Commerce Committee for unanimously passing this bill. We should all be supportive of efforts to protect kids online. The danger of TikTok is obvious—we cannot give the Chinese Communist Party unfettered access to our kids. Moreover, as has become abundantly clear in recent years, the CCP has been more than happy to facilitate the socially destructive forces unleashed by this platform. The TikTok algorithm in America is actively stifling family formation, promoting unhealthy relationships and interactions, and stoking ideological division, even as the Chinese version of the app carefully moderates such content. That we have allowed this to go on for so long is a travesty. We cannot afford to allow the CCP such a continued, significant influence in our country. That’s why APP is urging the full House and Senate to pass this legislation as soon as possible.” 

Parents Defending Education Action:

"Whether it involves China's attempt to infiltrate K-12 classrooms or harvest children's data via TikTok, the Chinese Communist Party should not be granted unfettered access to influence the minds of the next generation of Americans. 

"Parents share this grave concern. A recent poll showed an overwhelming majority of parents worry about the risks of foreign influence targeting their children. 

"Leaders at every level of government have a moral responsibility to protect students from this dangerous security threat. We are encouraged by the strong, bipartisan committee vote last week in support of the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, and encourage members to vote for this pro-America, pro-student measure when it comes to the House floor later this week."

America2100 Executive Director Mike Needham:

“China’s fingerprints are all over many of the most pressing challenges facing our country. It is unfathomable we allow a propaganda tool they control to burrow its way deeper and deeper into our society. The House must pass the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act immediately.” 

FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr:

“TikTok’s own conduct makes clear that it is beholden to the CCP and presents an unacceptable threat to U.S. national security. I applaud this strong bipartisan bill, which would definitely resolve this threat.”