Tomorrow, the Energy and Commerce Committee is taking action on bipartisan legislation to protect Americans’ data and national security from foreign adversaries.

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

As Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) said, “At our hearing last year with the CEO of TikTok, we saw a company that was repeatedly caught lying about its relationship with ByteDance and the Chinese Communist Party. It confirmed our worst fears—that applications controlled by foreign adversaries, like TikTok, are exploiting and weaponizing American’s data and pose a clear national security threat to the United States.”Nearly a year after TikTok’s CEO was grilled on Capitol Hill, House Republicans and Democrats are joining together on legislation that would force its parent company, China-based ByteDance, to divest the popular social media company or risk the U.S. banning it from app stores. 

The bill, introduced in Congress on Tuesday, calls for Beijing-based ByteDance to divest itself of TikTok or face the platform being banned from app stores and web-hosting services in the U.S. ByteDance would have [six] months from the enactment of the bill to comply. 

The Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act would require that TikTok be divested from ByteDance or other China-based companies within 180 days or else it would be banned from U.S. app stores and web hosting services. 

The bill also creates a broader framework that would allow the president to designate other foreign adversary-controlled applications. 

Lawmakers have regarded TikTok with suspicion for well over a year, with concerns largely stemming from the app's Beijing-based parent company, ByteDance. In late 2022, the developer, which also makes the Chinese version known as Douyin, said it dismissed four employees, including two based in China, after they accessed the data of U.S. TikTok users while investigating an internal leak.

A White House National Security Council spokesperson called the bill “an important and welcome step” adding that the Biden administration would work with Congress “to further strengthen this legislation and put it on the strongest possible legal footing.” 

The administration has worked with lawmakers from both parties to counter threats of tech services operating in the United States that pose risks to Americans’ sensitive data and broader national security, the official added. 

Eastern Washington Representative Cathy McMorris Rodgers will be leading a hearing on Thursday to discuss solutions to protecting Americans' personal data online. 

State of play: The House Energy and Commerce Committee is set to vote Thursday on a pair of TikTok-related bills, Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.) announced on Tuesday. 

One of the bills would prohibit app stores and internet hosting services from allowing access to "foreign adversary controlled applications." 

The other would make it illegal for data brokers to sell Americans' data to foreign adversaries. 

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

“TikTok’s unchecked growth and infiltration into the fabric of our society will only make it more difficult to extricate ourselves and our children from its grip. We must confront this crisis head-on and immediately prohibit TikTok from operating in the United States,” Heritage Foundation Tech Policy Center Director Kara Frederick stated. “The [bill] 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.” 

“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,” Joel Thayer, president of the Digital Progress Institute, posted on X. 

NEXT STEPS: 

Thursday, March 7 at 10:00AM: Full Committee Legislative Hearing titled

“Legislation to Protect American Data and National Security from Foreign Adversaries.” The following legislation will be considered:  

H.R. 7521, the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act 

H.R. 7520, the Protecting Americans’ Data from Foreign Adversaries Act of 2024  

NOTE: A motion to go into a classified executive session is expected. Should the Committee enter into a classified executive session, a brief recess would follow and a room change would be announced. 

Thursday, March 7 at 2:00PM or 30 minutes following the conclusion of the Full Committee legislative hearing: Full Committee Markup of the legislation listed above.

WATCH: 

ABC: TikTok showdown with Congress 

CBS: Congress revisits TikTok ban amid national security concerns 

FOX News: Enes Kanter Freedom discusses the House's bipartisan bill to ban TikTok 

READ: 

Chair Rodgers Announces Legislative Hearing on Protecting American Data and National Security from Foreign Adversaries 

Chair Rodgers Announces Full Committee Markup on Protecting American Data and National Security from Foreign Adversaries