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Senators on each side of the aisle on Friday signaled their help for taking motion to pressure the divestment of social media app TikTookay from Chinese-based ByteDance, beneath the specter of a U.S. ban.
The transfer comes following a vote on Wednesday that sailed by the House with a 352-65 bipartisan cut up, with one member abstaining. It would pressure Chinese divestment from TikTookay or see the app banned. Both Democrats and Republicans have expressed issues over ByteDance’s possession of TikTookay, stressing the nationwide safety menace is critical.
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Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, mentioned he was happy to see the House move the invoice, including that he seems to be ahead to seeing the Senate proceed with it. “I have been explicit and unequivocal about my concerns about TikTok, both that it is used by the Chinese Communist Party to engage in espionage and surveillance and that it is used to push incredibly harmful propaganda, particularly on our young people,” he advised Fox News Digital.
The icon for the video sharing TikTookay app is seen on a smartphone. (Gabby Jones/Bloomberg by way of Getty Images)
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Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, mentioned she desires to see the app compelled to divest: “I do want to see us divest — force them to divest. We shouldn’t have those ties with Communist China,” she mentioned.
Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., echoed that sentiment, saying, “It has to be addressed.”
Sens. Mark Warner, D-Va., and Marco Rubio, R-Fla., who function chair and vice chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, applauded the House’s passage of the TikTookay invoice in a joint assertion on Wednesday, saying, “We are united in our concern about the national security threat posed by TikTok.” They added that they hope to see the measure handed within the Senate and signed by President Biden.
Committee Chairman Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., left, seems to be on as rating member Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., questions witnesses throughout a Senate Intelligence Committee listening to regarding worldwide threats on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on March 8, 2023. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
The high senators on the intelligence committee have been sounding the alarm on the social media app for years. Warner, a Democrat, claimed in 2022 that “President Trump was right” when he sought to ban TikTookay with an govt order in 2020 that was in the end blocked by the courts.
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During the annual Senate Intel worldwide threats listening to with numerous nationwide safety officers earlier this week, FBI Director Christopher Wray confirmed to Rubio that ByteDance, “the parent company is, for all intents and purposes, beholden to the CCP.”
“I think what we’re hearing is genuine risk,” mentioned Sen. John Hickenlooper, D-Colo. The senator famous he’s hopeful for the Senate to take motion, notably due to the big bipartisan help evidenced by the House’s vote.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., speaks throughout a information convention to debate laws that will quickly halt U.S. arms gross sales to Saudi Arabia on the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 12, 2022. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., added he additionally desires to see TikTookay required to be divested from China in order that “national security and information [and] data on ordinary Americans can be protected.”
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Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., mentioned that he sees TikTookay as “a national security threat,” including that he desires “to make sure that we can sever that relationship” with China.
Despite the excessive stage of concern over TikTookay amongst members of each events, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., was obscure in regards to the invoice’s destiny within the higher chamber on Wednesday, and didn’t provide any clues on whether or not it might be fast-tracked within the physique.
“The Senate will review the legislation when it comes over from the House,” he mentioned in a press release following the measure’s passage.
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Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., speaks following a Democratic coverage luncheon on the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on March 28, 2023. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images))
In 2020, Schumer notably wrote on X, previously referred to as Twitter, “A US company should buy TikTok so everyone can keep using it and your data is safe.”
“With TikTok in China, it’s subject to Chinese Communist Party laws that may require handing over data to their government,” he wrote on the time.
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The House’s invoice was learn twice on Thursday after which referred to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, that means it is not being fast-tracked for swift passage.
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, attends a Senate Judiciary Committee markup within the Hart Building in Washington, D.C., on May 11, 2023. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc by way of Getty Images)
Cruz mentioned there ought to be “a full and open amendment process” — a criticism of the Senate’s current proclivity for skipping process.
However, there are issues over the additional time afforded to TikTookay and tech lobbyists as consideration of the measure is dragged out.
Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., criticized the circulation of cash from TikTookay and different tech lobbyists in Congress whereas speaking to Fox News Digital, claiming that “there ought to be a sign right there that says ‘property of Big Tech’” as he gestured towards the Senate chamber.
Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., questions Colleen Shogan, nominee to be archivist of the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration, about her social media postings in the course of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee full committee listening to on Shogan’s nomination on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 28, 2023. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
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Hawley mentioned he hoped to see debate and a vote on the invoice someday quickly.
On Thursday, TikTookay CEO Shou Chew advised Fox News correspondent Aishah Hasnie that his workforce had reviewed the House invoice and referred to as it “not feasible.”
“This bill, in all the details you can read, go through the details, this would lead to banning of the app in the country,” he claimed.
Hawley posted on X, writing, “The answer is, the CCP won’t allow a sale. Which tells you how valuable TikTok is to them.”
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While there gave the impression to be broad help for the House invoice addressing TikTookay, a smaller however considerably bipartisan group of lawmakers got here out towards it. That group included Sens. Cory Booker, D-N.J.; Rand Paul, R-Ky.; and Mike Lee, R-Utah, who warned that it might violate numerous constitutional amendments and enhance the scale and scope of the federal authorities.
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