China Select Committee says goal is NOT to ban TikTok as White House throws support behind 'important' bill to break the popular app from China-linked ByteDance

The White House is joining congressional leaders to back a new bill to separate popular social media app TikTok from its parent company ByteDance, which has Chinese Communist Party (CCP) ties.

The House China Select Committee have accused CCP officials of using TikTok to spy on U.S. users' locations and dictate its algorithm to conduct influence campaigns, making it a national security threat.

The Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act would specifically designate ByteDance and TikTok as foreign adversary-controlled applications. 

If passed, ByteDance would have five months after the law is signed to divest from TikTok. If it does not, app stores and web hosting platforms would not be allowed to distribute it in the U.S. 

But lawmakers are insisting that their goal is not to ban the popular app in the U.S., but rather release it from CCP control.  

'The Chinese Communist Party, and its leader Xi Jinping have their hands deep in the inner workings of the company,' Gallagher warned Wednesday. 

President Biden, meanwhile, would need to approve of the bill, and his administration recently signaled it would. 

Leaders on the China select committee are pushing a bipartisan bill that would force state-affiliated ByteDance to sell its shares of TikTok or else the popular video-sharing platform would be banned

TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew testified before Congress in January 

'This bill is an important and welcome step to address that threat,' a National Security Council spokesman said Tuesday.

'The Administration has worked with Members of Congress from both parties to arrive at a durable legislative solution that would address the threat of technology services operating in the United States in a way that poses risks to Americans' sensitive data and our broader national security,' the spokesman first told Punchbowl News.

Chairman Mike Gallagher, R-Wis., and top Democrat Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Calif., spoke at a press conference Wednesday detailing their proposed legislation, which got White House support last night. 

The bipartisan group of lawmakers warned that ByteDance has used TikTok data to track U.S. journalists, influence its algorithm to promote pro-China content and - unlike its previous claims - enables employees in China to access U.S. user data.

'The Chinese government has the ability to manipulate TikTok's algorithm, surveillance users and conduct influence operations that quietly populate Americans' 'For You' pages,' Gallagher said. 

'TikTok is not merely a social media platform, it is a leading new source where the next generation and the fact that we're putting a leading new source for the most impressionable minds in our society, in the hands of our leading foreign adversary is an act of self sabotage,' he continued.

Nearly 20 Republicans and Democrats have worked on the proposed law for over a year, Gallagher said, adding the committee met with industry specialists and national security interests while crafting the legislation.

The bill also would broaden the scope of the president's powers in general to ban foreign adversary-controlled applications, calling out those affiliated with China, Russia, North Korea and Iran.

In a statement, TikTok called it an 'outright ban of TikTok, no matter how much the authors try to disguise it.'

'This legislation will trample the First Amendment rights of 170 million Americans and deprive 5 million small businesses of a platform they rely on to grow and create jobs.'

The committee fired back, with multiple members reminding reporters that the bill does not outright ban the app. 

'This bill is not a ban, and it's really not about TikTok,' Krishnamoorthi said.

Rep. Dusty Johnson, R-S.D., echoed the Democrat.

'Our goal is not to shutdown TikTok,' Johnson said. 'Our goal is to decouple TikTok and other platforms from the malign influence and control of the Chinese Communist Party.' 

A bipartisan group of House lawmakers have worked on the bill for over a year

Krishnamoorthi warned that top CCP officials have ties to high-ranking ByteDance executives

Lawmakers grilled Chew over the company's connections to China and was himself asked if he was affiliated with the CCP

The bill will be marked up by the House Energy and Commerce Committee on Thursday in a sign of swift action for the legislation.

The committee is expected to vote to go into a classified executive session at 10 a.m. to talk about the bill on Thursday followed by a public mark-up starting at 2 p.m.

The bill has at least 17 co-sponsors from both parties, offering it a decent shot of becoming law if it comes up for a vote. 

Still, banning a widely popular social media platform in an election year could prove to be difficult. TikTok has around 103 million users in the US, nearly a third of the population. 

Last year a group of Republicans launched a bill that would outright ban TikTok, but Democrats said the effort was rushed and would infringe on free speech rights. 

Now, some Democrats are admitting it could infringe those very rights.  

'ByteDance uses the location data of TikTok accounts owned by American journalists to target those very journalists,' Krishnamoorthi said.

'ByteDance has repeatedly used the TikTok platform in ways that undermine not just American national security, but the interest of its users.' 

He also noted how a high CCP officials have connections with ByteDance executives.  

Rep. Kat Cammak, R-Fla., said Wednesday TikTok is trying to 'salvage their ability to infiltrate our phones and our communities in the lives of 150 million Americans.'

Senators have introduced their own bills to ban or curb the platform, but none have gained enough traction to come up for a vote. 

Congress already passed legislation to ban TikTok on government phones.

But last month, Biden's re-election campaign joined TikTok.

The bill has at least 17 co-sponsors from both parties, offering it a decent shot of becoming law if it comes up for a vote

Last year the White House backed legislation put forth by Intel Committee Chair Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., and more than two dozen other senators that would have given the administration the power to ban foreign-based technologies if they pose national security threats. 

In 2020 former President Donald Trump tried to ban TikTok, but that move was held up by courts.