WASHINGTON D.C., DC — On Tuesday, Senator Marco Rubio (R - Florida) announced that he was introducing a bill that would effectively ban TikTok in the U.S.
It's called the "Averting the National Threat of Internet Surveillance, Oppressive Censorship and Influence, and Algorithmic Learning by the Chinese Communist Party Act." The bill is also known as the ANTI-SOCIAL CCP Act.
It would effectively sanction TikTok and the company which developed the social media app, Bytedance, Ltd. Once it is sanctioned, the bill says the company would not be able to conduct "commercial operation" in the U.S.
Representative Chuck Fleischmann's (R - Tennessee) office said that the Congressman was still studying the bill on Tuesday and did not comment on it. However, they also said that he is "very concerned about the threats posed by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and allowing any form of social media app or company to spy on American citizens."
Representative Tim Burchett commented on the bill, too. His statement is below.
"I support it. We should absolutely protect Americans from the Chinese Communist Party and other foreign adversaries that want to steal our information."
TikTok is one of the most widely-used social media apps available today, attracting celebrities, news organizations, and billions of users across the world according to reports from CNBC.