The House approved the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act that would require China tech giant ByteDance to either divest TikTok or face having it banned in the U.S. The vote was 352 to 65. Rep. Mary Peltola of Alaska voted in favor of the bill, while her colleague Democrat Rep. Jamilia Jayapal of Washington state voted against it, as did polar opposite Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida.
The bill would block companies such as Apple or Google from offering TikTok as a download from their app stores unless ByteDance divests itself from China within 180 days.
“It does not apply to American companies. It only applies to companies subject to the control of foreign adversaries … defined by Congress,” said Rep. Mike Gallagher of Wisconsin, the Republican who chairs the House select committee on the Chinese Communist Party, said on the House floor. “And it cannot — cannot — be used to censor speech. It takes no position at all on the content of speech, only foreign adversary control — foreign adversary control of what is becoming the dominant news platform for Americans under 30.”
House Speaker Mike Johnson said, “Today’s bipartisan vote demonstrates Congress’ opposition to Communist China’s attempts to spy on and manipulate Americans, and signals our resolve to deter our enemies.”
Yet there was also bipartisan opposition, with 50 Democrats and 15 Republicans voting against the bill
The bill does not have companion legislation in the Senate, and Sen. Rand Paul opposes it, as he says it violates the U.S. Constitution.
People “choose to use TikTok to express themselves,” Sen. Paul said. “I don’t think Congress should be trying to take away the First Amendment rights of [170] million Americans.”
