The ANTI-SOCIAL CCP Act (Averting the National Threat of Internet Surveillance, Oppressive Censorship and Influence, and Algorithmic Learning by the Chinese Communist Party Act) has been officially introduced in Congress, led by Republican Sen. Marco Rubio.
Senator Rubio emphasized the app’s broad social and electoral influence, which the state of Indiana believes exposes children and teenagers to explicit content. He claims that the bill will protect Americans by blocking and prohibiting all transactions from any social media company based in, or controlled by, China, Russia, and a number of other foreign countries of concern. U.S.
According to the bill, its purpose is, “To protect Americans from the threat posed by certain foreign adversaries using current or potential future social media companies that those foreign adversaries control to surveil Americans, learn sensitive data about Americans, or spread influence campaigns, propaganda, and censorship.”
A TikTok spokesperson said in a statement that it was “troubling” that members of Congress were proposing legislation to ban the app rather than waiting for a national security review to conclude. According to the company, the bills will “do nothing to advance” national security.
The company also stated that it will “continue to brief” Congress on plans developed under the supervision of security officials. The social network has consistently denied any intention of tracking American users or otherwise assisting Chinese surveillance efforts in the country.
The sources for this piece include an article in ZDNet.
