Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, a year ago, I asked TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew point blank if ByteDance, its parent company, has spied on Americans on behalf of the Chinese Communist Party. He told me: ``I don't think spying is the right way to describe it.'' Congress has overwhelming evidence that TikTok collects search and browsing histories, keystroke patterns, biometric identifiers, draft messages, metadata, geolocation data, and more. We're talking an overwhelming amount of sensitive user-data. This is not just data on adults, but the personal information of our children. That is the very definition of spying. TikTok and ByteDance present a serious national security threat. TikTok functions as a sophisticated surveillance tool--an organization that is bound to the Chinese Communist Party and required by their National Intelligence Law to support Chinese intelligence services. My esteemed colleagues and I are trying to protect Americans from this dangerous, destructive spyware masked as a simple social media app. The Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act will incentivize the divestment of TikTok so that it is no longer controlled by a China-based entity. This bill does not punish individual social media users, censor speech, or impact apps or websites that sever ties with companies controlled by foreign adversaries. The First Amendment does not protect espionage. I urge my colleagues to support this bill.”