Washington, D.C. – Today, Chairman Jodey Arrington (TX-19) issued the following statement after the House passed the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act (H.R. 7521), which would require TikTok’s Chinese Communist Party (CCP) controlled parent company – ByteDance – to divest from TikTok:
“This isn’t about TikTok. It’s about our greatest adversarial threat, and we shouldn’t allow China to buy our land, collect information on our children, control our food or fuel supply, or do anything else that compromises America’s security.”
The Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act (H.R. 7521):
Promotes U.S. National Security: The Act prohibits marketplaces—like app stores and web hosting services—from hosting applications controlled by foreign adversaries of the United States, including the PRC, the Russian Federation, the Islamic Republic of Iran, and the Democratic People’s Republic of North Korea. This includes applications like TikTok, which is owned by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)-controlled ByteDance.
Establishes a Narrow Framework to Protect Against Future Applications Controlled by Foreign Adversary Covered Companies: The Act allows the President, after notice to the public and to Congress, to require divestment of an application subject to the control of a covered company controlled by a foreign adversary—or face a prohibition on app stores and be denied access to web hosting services in the United States. The President may exercise this authority only if an application presents a national security threat, has over one million annual active users, and is under the control of an adversarial foreign entity.
Incentivizes Divestment From the PRC or TikTok Will Face a Ban: Unless TikTok is divested, such that it is no longer controlled by a PRC-based entity that poses a national security risk, the application will face a prohibition in the U.S. from app store availability and web hosting services. If TikTok is divested, it can continue to operate in the U.S. If the restrictions are already in effect and TikTok is divested later, the restrictions will be lifted. The President, in coordination with all Executive branch agencies, including the national security and intelligence agencies and the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), decides when a divestment is complete. This is a tailored solution to address the national security threat presented by TikTok’s ownership by a covered company controlled by a foreign adversary that minimizes impacts on users and provides an opportunity for ByteDance to divest.
Empowers Users and Small Businesses to Switch Platforms: If an application controlled by a foreign adversary covered company is not divested, it must provide users with a copy of their data. All users will be able to download their data and content and then utilize other platforms.
Protects Individual Users: No enforcement action can be taken against individual users of a banned application. Civil enforcement actions may only be initiated against companies that violate the Act.
Only Impacts Foreign Adversary Entities: The Act only applies to covered applications subject to the control of foreign adversaries, including the PRC, the Russian Federation, the Islamic Republic of Iran, and the Democratic People’s Republic of North Korea. This Act does not provide any authority related to domestic entities that are not controlled by a foreign adversary.
