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.