White House signals support for legislation that could lead to TikTok ban

The Biden administration urged both Democrats and Republicans Tuesday to quickly pass newly introduced legislation that would give the president the power to shut down TikTok over possible national security concerns.

The strong signal from the White House comes as lawmakers from both sides of the aisle introduced a bill in the Senate Tuesday that could squash the Chinese-owned social media app in the US, where it is currently used by more than 100 million Americans, many of them younger than 30.

National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said the proposal would buff up the country’s ability to fight off risks from other countries.

“We look forward to continue working with both Democrats and Republicans on this bill, and urge Congress to act quickly to send it to the President’s desk,” he said in a statement.

Under the bill, the Commerce Department would be able to restrict and even banish TikTok, owned by ByteDance, and other technologies that pose national security threats, Sen. Mark Warner (D-Virginia) said. Foreign technologies from China, Russia, North Korea, Iran, Venezuela and Cuba, would all be targeted, the Intelligence Committee chairman said.

Concerns have been ongoing that the short-video sharing platform gives the Chinese government access to data of the tens of millions of Americans glued to the popular platform.

Six Democrats and six Republicans in the Senate are co-sponsoring the legislation.

“Over the past several years, foreign adversaries of the United States have encroached on American markets through technology products that steal sensitive location and identifying information of US citizens, including social media platforms like TikTok,” Sen. Joe Manchin (D-West Virginia) said in a statement.

“This dangerous new internet infrastructure poses serious risks to our nation’s economic and national security.”

TikTok insisted in a statement that any “US ban on TikTok is a ban on the export of American culture and values to the billion-plus people who use our service worldwide.”

TikTok Chief Executive Shou Zi Chew is expected to testify before Congress on March 23.

The company has previously argued steps have been taken to safeguard Americans’ user data.

States around the country have banned the downloading of TikTok on government-issued phones. Last month, the federal government ordered agencies to get rid of the app on government devices.

With Post wires