Republican Senator Josh Hawley announced Wednesday that he was introducing a bill that both sides of the aisle have considered for a long time.
This bill would implement a nationwide ban on the social media app TikTok which is controlled by Chinese Communists interests.
Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., on Tuesday announced he would introduce a bill to implement a nationwide ban the social media app TikTok.
"[TikTok] is China's backdoor into Americans' lives. It threatens our children's privacy as well as their mental health," Hawley tweeted Tuesday morning. "Last month Congress banned it on all government devices. Now I will introduce legislation to ban it nationwide."
Many politicians and experts have noted that TikTok is a very present danger to the United States's security.
Hawley, a longtime critic of TikTok, which is owned by the Chinese company ByteDance, has previously accused the app of posing a "major security risk" to the United States. He was the chief author of the No TikTok on Government Devices Act, which was enacted last year and prohibits the use of TikTok on government-issued devices.
A standalone version of Hawley's bill to ban TikTok on government devices passed the Senate with bipartisan support in December following revelations from FBI Director Christopher Wray that Chinese officials are able to "manipulate content, and if they want to, to use if for influence operations."
"TikTok is a Trojan Horse for the Chinese Communist Party. It's a major security risk to the United States, and until it is forced to sever ties with China completely, it has no place on government devices," Hawley said in a statement at the time. "States across the U.S. are banning TikTok on government devices. It's time for Joe Biden and the Democrats to help do the same."
Chinese apps shouldn't be allowed on government devices. That's common sense.
But should it even be allowed in the US when we know the damage the social media app has done?
"TikTok is a Trojan Horse for the Chinese Communist Party to gain unprecedented access to Americans' data and lives, posing a unique threat to our children's privacy. It should be banned nationwide," he told Fox News Digital.
Biden administration officials, including Wray and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, have warned Congress that the video sharing app poses "legitimate national security concerns."
Will this bill go anywhere?
