said Friday that he would sign legislation being advanced in the House designed to sever China’s influence over TikTok, the latest evidence of the bill’s momentum.
Biden confirmed his support for Rep. Mike Gallagher’s Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, a bill that would make it unlawful for app stores to host social media applications owned by companies connected to “foreign adversaries,” such as China, Russia, or Iran. It would force TikTok to completely divest from its China-based parent company ByteDance or risk being banned in the U.S.
House Speaker Mike Johnson affirmed his support for the bill on Thursday, and House Majority Leader Steve Scalise that the lower chamber would vote on the measure next week. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has not stated his views of Gallagher’s bill, although hethe U.S. intelligence community to investigate TikTok over “national security risks” in 2019 and appeared to hold a skeptical view of the platform.