Rubio and Ernst seek to punish TikTok’s business partners with bill

RSens. epublican Marco Rubio (FL), Joni Ernst (IA), introduced Friday a new bill that would block federal funding for TikTok business owners, which is a Chinese-owned social networking platform.

The No funds for enablers in the Adversarial Propaganda act would prohibit federal funding for people and entities that have an agreement, partnership, or advertisement with social media companies associated with foreign adversaries — which include China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, Cuba, and Venezuela.

BIDEN’S TIKTOK TICKING TIMING TIME BOMB

“Chinese-owned TikTok is a threat, but some entities, including our nation’s airports, are still willing to accept advertising dollars from the company,” said Rubio in a statement. “They are either naive, greedy, or both. Regardless, they shouldn’t receive taxpayer dollars if they are going to accept money from or partner with TikTok. These companies need to stop enabling Chinese Communist Party propaganda and espionage efforts.”

The bill is being introduced days before TikTok CEO Shou zi Chew is scheduled to testify before House Energy and Commerce Committee. There, he will speak about the privacy and security practices of the social media platform.

Officials in the United States continue to be concerned about the app’s connections to China. They fear that TikTok might use user data to weaponize its collection. Last week, Christopher Wray, FBI Director, testified before the Senate Intelligence Committee that the app could be used for spreading misinformation.

“This is a tool that is ultimately within the control of the Chinese government, and it, to me, it screams out with national security concerns,” Wray stated.

Biden’s administration threatened to ban TikTok in the United States unless the Chinese owners sell their shares. The White House had earlier in the year ordered all federal agencies to take TikTok off government-issued devices because of national security concerns. Although TikTok has been working with the Biden administration for over two years to address data security concerns, some legislators are becoming impatient.

A bill was introduced by a bipartisan group of senators last Tuesday This would allow the federal government to ban foreign-linked technology and give it greater authority. The White House later supported the proposal.

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Additional to the Senate bill: Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi and his counterpart from the China select panel, Rep. Mike Gallagher(R-WI) have introduced a bill that would ban the app completely in addition a bill from House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul.

Mid-February is when Sens. Angus King and Rubio (I-ME). Legislation was introduced To ban social media platforms such as TikTok owned by foreign adversaries