A bill has passed the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee that could lead to a ban on short-form video app TikTok in the United States.
Per CNBC, on Tuesday Republicans on the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee took short-form video app TikTok closer to its final tick in the U.S. Concerned about reports that TikTok collects personal data from its U.S. subscribers, and might even collect keystrokes from those using TikTok’s in-app browser, legislation that would result in the ban of TikTok on all U.S. mobile devices has advanced.
The legislation would give President Joe Biden the authority to ban the popular app in the U.S. Committee Chairman Michael McCaul (R-Texas) said, « Everybody knows what TikTok is. It’s too dangerous to be on our phones as members of Congress. In my judgment, it’s too dangerous to be on our children’s phones. That’s the whole point of this bill. » The U.S. in December banned TikTok from government-owned phones.
McCaul’s DATA Act (H.R. 1153) advanced out of committee by a vote of 24 to 16. Voting on the proposed bill was split along party lines with the 24 votes in favor of moving the legislation along coming from all of the Republicans on the committee while the 16 dissenting votes came from all of the Democrats on the committee.
