U.S. Rep. Donald M. Payne, Jr. voted for a bill today to protect the privacy of American users of the popular social media application, TikTok, according to a press release from the Congressman’s office.

The bill, H.R. 7521, would prohibit a foreign-adversary controlled application from operating through U.S.-based Internet services.  It forces ByteDance, the Chinese Communist Party-controlled company that owns and operates TikTok, to sell off the majority of the company’s shares to a company based in a less adversarial country, such as the United States, Canada or France.  In addition, the bill would halt data collection on TikTok before the sale and force ByteDance officials to obtain user’s consent before it can continue data collection.  More and more Americans are concerned that TikTok is a social media application designed to obtain private data on users without any disclosures on how that data is being used.  TikTok is the fourth largest social media platform in the world.

“TikTok has more than one billion monthly users and collects data on every one of them,” said Payne. “This legislation protects Americans from unlawful or unethical use of that data and eliminates Chinese ownership of it.  The vast majority of Americans have no idea their data is being collected and manipulated in this way.  We have plenty of issues with data collection and privacy in America when it’s used as a marketing tool.  But Chinese officials have been using every means at their disposal to spy on Americans for nefarious purposes.  This bill would end that surveillance and data collection to allow Americans to enjoy TikTok safely.”

The bill passed the House, with all New Jersey delegates, from both parties, voting “yes.”

All, except U.S. Rep. Andy Kim, a candidate for U.S. Senate.

The Tammy Murphy Campaign promptly chewed him out here.

From CNN:

The bill, which passed on a bipartisan 352-65 vote, would require the app to part ways with its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, within 180 days or face a ban in American app stores. The measure is now expected to move to the US Senate, where it faces an uncertain future. President Joe Biden has said he would be prepared to sign the bill if it passes both chambers.

U.S. Rep. Bill Pascrell, Jr. today commented on the overwhelming vote in the House of Representatives to force the sale of TikTok to a company not controlled by the Chinese Communist Party.

“This is a very close issue and I do not take lightly any adverse action toward a service that is used by over half of all Americans,” said the Paterson-based congressman. “But the United States has a right to regulate a social media company controlled by the hostile Chinese authoritarian regime that exercises broad power over American discourse and popular culture. Just as we would not accept the Soviet Union to control CNN or other major American news source, we cannot allow the Chinese Community Party to control an outlet with even more daily viewers. There is no question in my mind the Chinese Communist Party can and will use TikTok’s power to influence our elections. I want to note clearly: this legislation would not ‘ban’ TikTok. If it becomes law, TikTok’s parent company would be free to sell the app and make untold billions of dollars. That the Chinese Communist Party is refusing to take the money says a lot about their motives and their intentions.”

U.S. Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-11) picked up on that point.

“There is no question that the Chinese government’s influence over ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company, is a national security threat. The CCP uses TikTok to silence free speech and dissent in the United States and abroad, to intimidate and spy on journalists, to undermine democracy and our values, and to promote propaganda that is favorable to autocratic rulers like President Xi. Today, the House took a meaningful step forward to force the CCP to divest from TikTok so that American users can continue to utilize this platform without foreign interference, encroachment on their privacy, or censorship of speech. I urge the Senate to pass this legislation and to not listen to the lies being pushed by TikTok on what the bill does. The President is ready to sign this into law; let’s get it to his desk,” said Sherrill.

The Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act creates a rules-based process by which the President can restrict the app store availability and access to U.S.-based web hosting services of foreign adversary-controlled social media applications, including TikTok, unless they sever ties to the foreign adversary controlled-company. Learn more about the bill here.

At a press conference focused on this bill with fellow members of the House Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the United States and the CCP, Sherrill called on the Energy and Commerce Committee to advance the legislation as quickly as possible, which they did unanimously, voting 50-0.