A forced sale of TikTok, the social media app that US intelligence officials have labeled a national security risk, could occur before the 2024 presidential election in November, the House China committee leaders said Sunday.
House China Select Committee Chair Mike Gallagher, R-Wis., and rating member Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Unwell., appeared together on CBS’ “Face the Nation” after the House passed a bill last week that may block TikTok from US app stores if parent company Bytedance, which is linked to the Chinese government, doesn’t divest from it inside 165 days.
When asked if a forced sale could occur before the elections in November, Gallagher responded that it “absolutely could” occur.
“And I believe all of the more reason why now we have to tackle this now, the closer we get to an election, the danger just gets greater and greater,” Gallagher said.
TikTok’s critics have long called it a national security threat.
They’ve cited concerns concerning the Chinese government’s ability to leverage its power over Bytedance to access sensitive user data, even within the US, something the corporate has denied.
“Each intelligence community official that testified before the Intelligence Committee last week suggested under its current ownership structure, TikTok is a threat to national security, which is why we are attempting to force TikTok to separate from ByteDance and, by extension, from the Chinese Communist Party,” Gallagher said.
Krishnamoorthi, the committee’s rating member, said that because the bill now moves to the Senate, he and Gallagher have had “very positive” conversations with Senate members who were “very surprised” by the overwhelming bipartisan support within the House.
While it’s unclear how briskly the Senate will move on this bill, Krishnamoorthi noted that the White House has asked Senate lawmakers “to take up this bill quickly.”
A forced sale of TikTok, the social media app that US intelligence officials have labeled a national security risk, could occur before the 2024 presidential election in November, the House China committee leaders said Sunday.
House China Select Committee Chair Mike Gallagher, R-Wis., and rating member Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Unwell., appeared together on CBS’ “Face the Nation” after the House passed a bill last week that may block TikTok from US app stores if parent company Bytedance, which is linked to the Chinese government, doesn’t divest from it inside 165 days.
When asked if a forced sale could occur before the elections in November, Gallagher responded that it “absolutely could” occur.
“And I believe all of the more reason why now we have to tackle this now, the closer we get to an election, the danger just gets greater and greater,” Gallagher said.
TikTok’s critics have long called it a national security threat.
They’ve cited concerns concerning the Chinese government’s ability to leverage its power over Bytedance to access sensitive user data, even within the US, something the corporate has denied.
“Each intelligence community official that testified before the Intelligence Committee last week suggested under its current ownership structure, TikTok is a threat to national security, which is why we are attempting to force TikTok to separate from ByteDance and, by extension, from the Chinese Communist Party,” Gallagher said.
Krishnamoorthi, the committee’s rating member, said that because the bill now moves to the Senate, he and Gallagher have had “very positive” conversations with Senate members who were “very surprised” by the overwhelming bipartisan support within the House.
While it’s unclear how briskly the Senate will move on this bill, Krishnamoorthi noted that the White House has asked Senate lawmakers “to take up this bill quickly.”
