US bill eyes TikTok ban amid security fears

Senator Marco Rubio, who represents Florida, has introduced a nine-page bipartisan bill to ban TikTok in the US, citing concerns for the safety of Americans, South China Morning Post reported.

Siding with Rubio’s sentiment, congressmen Raja Krishnamoorthi and Mike Gallagher proposed companion bills in the House of Representatives.

A TikTok representative said that the bill is “politically motivated” and “will do nothing to advance the national security of the US.”

TikTok’s user data collection methods – along with the Chinese law forcing information to be shared with the ruling party – has become a cause for concern in the US. Texas and Utah are some states that are pushing to ban the app from being used on government devices.

Last month, FBI director Christopher Wray said the social media platform “could be used for influence operations [by China] if they so choose.”

Besides the audience of China-specific sister app Douyin, the United States has the greatest number of TikTok users by country at over 140.6 million users. Worldwide, the app has logged over 1 billion daily active users.

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