The White House has said it is open to further action on curbing TikTok as legislation to ban the Chinese-owned app in the United States began making its way through the US Congress.

The video-sharing service has more than a billion users worldwide, including more than 100 million in the US, where it has become a cultural force, especially among young people, which has raised alarm bells among legislators.

President Joe Biden’s administration is out to thwart China and other countries from “seeking to leverage digital technologies and Americans’ data in ways that present unacceptable national security risks,” said White House press secretary Olivia Dalton on Tuesday.

“We’ll continue to look at other actions that we can take and that includes how to work with Congress on this issue,” Dalton told reporters aboard Air Force One.

The House Foreign Affairs Committee was set to vote later Tuesday on legislation introduced by Republicans that would give Biden the authority to outright ban TikTok in the US.

The bill then would go to a full vote in the House of Representatives, where its passage was also likely.

Appearing tough on China is one of the rare issues with potential for bipartisan support in both the Republican-run House and the Senate, where Biden’s Democratic Party holds a majority.

The American Civil Liberties Union said it opposed the recently introduced bill, arguing it would curb free speech.

“Congress must not censor entire platforms and strip Americans of their constitutional right to freedom of speech and expression,” Jenna Leventoff, the ACLU’s senior policy counsel, said.

The law will begin to snake its way through Congress as Western governments continue to ban TikTok from government devices, following a similar ban Biden signed into law in January.

Source: Al Jazeera 

BDST: 1334 HRS, MAR 01, 2023
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