The US House's Committee on Energy and Commerce voted unanimously to push forward a bill pressuring TikTok parent company ByteDance to step away from the popular app's US operations or face a nationwide ban. The Senate has yet to vote on the bill.
"We haven't seen a vote like that in four or five, six years maybe... this was something that I think all of us came together, both sides of the aisle, and the goal here is that we want to make sure that Americans are safe, we want to make sure that data is safe, we want to make sure that a foreign adversary is not taking advantage like we think they are of an application and using Americans and our privacy to their advantage," Rep. August Pfluger (R-Tx.) told Yahoo Finance's Josh Lipton.
TikTok has responded online, posting that the likelihood of a US ban for the app will ultimately harm businesses and business owners. Rep. Pfluger says that American business owners should "reach out to TikTok, they need to let them know that it's in their best interest to sell to somebody who is trusted," iterating that this conflict is "about the link to a foreign adversary that has control over it."
"When [ByteDance CEO] Shou Chew sat in our committee almost a year ago and testified in front of Congress, he admitted that it was possible that the Chinese Communist Party could manipulate messages, he said that not us," Pfluger states.
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JOSH LIPTON: House Energy and Commerce Committee voted unanimously 52 to 0 to advance a bill that would require TikTok owner ByteDance to divest the app or effectively face a ban in the US. Earlier, I spoke with a member of that committee representative August Pfluger.
AUGUST PFLUGER: Well, look, I mean, you saw a vote yesterday out of the Energy and Commerce Committee that was 52 to 0. It was completely bipartisan unanimous. We had a great legislative hearing before we went to the markup.
I mean, we haven't seen a vote like that in four, or five, six years maybe. I mean, this was something that I think all of us came together both sides of the aisle. And the goal here is that we want to make sure that Americans are safe. We want to make sure that data is safe. We want to make sure that a foreign adversary is not taking advantage like we think they are of an application and using Americans and our privacy to their advantage.
JOSH LIPTON: And, you know, Congressman, TikTok is firing right back here. And I want to read you their response here. They say this legislation has a predetermined outcome, a total ban of TikTok in the United States.
They go on to say the government is attempting to strip 170 million Americans of their constitutional right to free expression. This will damage millions of businesses, deny artists and audience, and destroy the livelihoods of countless creators across the country. Congressman, your reaction to that.
AUGUST PFLUGER: Well, that's completely false. This is not about content. It's about conduct.
And, in fact, we hope that the application can actually continue. But it needs to happen with an American purchase. It needs to happen with a trusted purchase.
And so far, the Chinese Communist Party has a direct tie to ByteDance. This isn't about TikTok, it's about ByteDance. It's about the link to a foreign adversary that has control over.
When Shou Chew sat in our committee almost a year ago and testified in front of Congress, he admitted that it was possible that the Chinese Communist Party could manipulate messages. He said that. Not us. So all we want is for them to divest.
It's not about content. It's about divesting, and putting that company in the application in the hands of trusted agents which are either American businesses or friendly countries.
JOSH LIPTON: Just to press on that point though, Congressman. I'm interested what you would say to folks. And including many, they may be listening to this interview who did build business on TikTok. Should those Americans be worried about being out of business?
AUGUST PFLUGER: They need to reach out to TikTok. They need to let them know that it's in their best interest to sell it to somebody who is trusted, not somebody who is completely bent, and shows, and demonstrates that they want to undermine American interests, they want to undermine our national security. So, you know, look, this is about the conduct of ByteDance.
And there's been plenty of time for them to understand based on that hearing we had with the CEO of TikTok almost a year ago what could happen. And they've taken no steps to help those Americans. So this is on ByteDance. It's on their business dealings and the conduct that they have demonstrated over the past year and previously.
JOSH LIPTON: And finally here, Congressman, I do want to touch on former President Trump because he did weigh in here. He seemed to criticize the measure, took the Truth Social wrote that banning TikTok would only help Facebook, which he described as, quote, an enemy of the people. It does seem to represent a change for Mr. Trump here from when he was president. What do you make of his response?
AUGUST PFLUGER: Well, this isn't about American companies, this is about ByteDance, which is a Chinese Communist Party linked entity. So, you know, I think at the heart of this is protecting Americans, protecting our data, protecting our kids. And so I'm not sure that the link there is really what we're talking about.
We're talking about national security issues. And the fact that this company has the ability through the influence of a foreign adversary, to influence the outcome or manipulate the outcome, including using our data, Americans data. So I think that's what we're focused on.
