Pass the TikTok Divestiture Bill

A broad coalition of conservative organizations is urging the House to proceed with its current schedule to bring to the Floor and pass the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act (H.R. 7521), which would require that TikTok divest from the Chinese Communist Party, if it is to continue operations in the United States. 

The coalition, which CHQ supports, likewise urges that the Senate then swiftly consider and pass the House-passed bill next week.

As Rep. Mike Gallagher explained on FOX News, the bill does not “ban” TikTok: “This bill would force a separation… It would compel a divestiture. Think of it as a surgery designed to remove the tumor from the patient and thereby save it.”

And the patient being saved is the children and young adults of America, who make up the overwhelming majority of TikTok users.

Far from being “entertainment” or “social media” TikTok, a Chinese Communist Party-controlled app used by China to surveil and manipulate the minds of more than 150 million Americans through short viral videos, is an important element of Red China’s cognitive warfare against the United States.

The Trump-Pence administration paved the path for this important legislation through an Executive Order intended to force the CCP to sell TikTok in 2020. Rather than put our country’s national security first, the Biden-Harris Administration demonstrated extreme short-sightedness and partisanship, revoking the Executive Order in 2021.

TikTok says that its data is kept outside of China. This is false. A former ByteDance employee asserted that the CCP has “supreme access” to TikTok’s data. Additionally, TikTok’s parent company ByteDance is headquartered in Beijing, and the CCP exercises vast control over China-based companies. Moreover, a former ByteDance executive alleged that the CCP used its data to track and arrest Hong Kong protestors.

TikTok is digital fentanyl and Congress, and President Biden must act before it's too late.

While the behavior regarding elections of American tech companies, such as Facebook and Google, is concerning, TikTok is unique in that it provides data on millions of Americans to the Chinese government while manipulating the minds of 150 million Americans with pro-CCP propaganda (and the suppression of anti-CCP perspectives). Indeed, a report from Rutgers University found that “content on TikTok is either amplified or suppressed based on its alignment with the interests of the Chinese Government.”

ByteDance's shareholder agreement bans criticism of the app.  As a result, the company is seizing millions in stocks from current and former staffers. Forcing CCP-controlled ByteDance to sell TikTok does not violate the First Amendment. The First Amendment does not protect the Red China’s ability to operate spyware in the U.S. Additionally, the First Amendment does not apply to the Chinese Communist Party.

We join former Vice President Mike Pence in commending Chairwoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers for her strong leadership in securing passage of a bill forcing the sale of TikTok with a unanimous 50-0 vote of the House Energy & Commerce Committee.

As the former Vice President said in a statement of support for the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act (H.R. 7521) the era of appeasing the Chinese Communist Party is over. Politicians claiming to be “tough on China” while simultaneously supporting TikTok spewing CCP-sanctioned propaganda across the world are wrong. China is poisoning the minds of American children. Enough is enough.

Congress should pass legislation forcing the sale of TikTok as soon as possible, and President Biden must immediately sign it into law.

The Capitol Switchboard is (202-224-3121), call your Representative and Senators today to demand they vote to force the Chinese Communist Party-controlled corporation ByteDance to divest itself of TikTok or cease operations in the United States.

• Tik Tok divestiture

• Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act (H.R. 7521)

• Chinese Communist Party

• Rep. Mike Gallagher

• Social Media

• Viral videos

• cognitive warfare

• Biden Harris administration

• Trump executive order

• ByteDance

• Tech Companies

• Data

• CCP propaganda

• First Amendment

• Chinese spyware

• Chairwoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers

• Mike Pence