The United States Senate is set to take its time in considering a bill that was quickly passed by the House of Representatives for a TikTok ban amid concerns about a security threat.
On Wednesday, the House voted 352-65 in favor of the new bill, only eight days after the proposal was introduced. While there is broad support in the Senate for taking action to address national security threats from foreign apps such as TikTok, there is no agreement on the right approach to take.
Senate Takes Up TikTok Ban Bill
During an interview, Senate Commerce Committee chair Maria Cantwell said that she hopes for legislation to address broad concerns regarding foreign apps that would hold up in court. She said that she is not sure that the House bill goes far enough to address her concerns.
Cantwell argued that they would probably have a better grasp on the situation in a week and would have an idea of what their options are. She did say that they want to use the strongest possible tool at their disposal, according to Reuters.
A leading Democrat on tech issues, Sen. Ron Wyden, said that he is still reviewing the newly passed House bill. He said that he has serious concerns regarding any app that gives the Chinese government access to American people's private data. However, he argued that mistakes are made when lawmakers rush to legislate on tech and social media.
The top Republican on the Commerce Committee, Sen. Ted Cruz, said that the new bill would be open to a "full amendment process," which could result in significantly delaying any action that officials can take.
On the other hand, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said that only the Senate would review the legislation but did not give any timeline for action. On Thursday, TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew was on Capitol Hill to attend a second day of meetings with senators.
Texas Republican Sen. John Cornyn said that there is a need for action on TikTok due to its parent company having links to China. He said that the threat stems from the fact that under existing Chinese law, any information that any Chinese company collects must be shared with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), said NBC News.
National Security Threat
However, he noted that the Senate will not act as quickly as the House did, saying that they do things slowly because it takes time to make proper decisions. In order to break a filibuster, the chamber will require 60 votes.
Some senators have also said that the national security threat that TikTok poses is urgent and others said that they are willing to support the new House bill. However, others want to take a broader approach that would encompass various foreign-controlled apps rather than singling out one company.
Following the House's approval and awaiting a Senate decision, Americans could lose access to TikTok within months. The situation comes as lawmakers have long tried to regulate the social media platform.
On the other hand, TikTok has repeatedly said that it would deny requests made by the Chinese government to share Americans' private data. The company also pointed to "Project Texas," which is an initiative that TikTok started in 2022 in order to safeguard American users' data on servers in the U.S. to ease lawmakers' concerns, according to CBS News.
