Senate Democratic Chief Chuck Schumer on Friday outlined a busy agenda for lawmakers returning to Washington, saying they will make progress “on a path ahead on TikTok legislation.”
The Senate is returning to work subsequent week after a two-week recess. The Home voted 352-65 on March 13 to offer TikTok’s Chinese language proprietor, ByteDance, about six months to divest the US assets of the short-video app, or face a ban.
Schumer’s assertion didn’t define a particular place on TikTok however stated “within the weeks and months forward, we’ve got the chance to make progress on bipartisan payments” together with a measure on TikTok.
Congressional aides say there isn’t a speedy motion deliberate on TikTok as senators continue to discuss next steps.
Schumer referenced different bipartisan payments the place progress is feasible together with youngsters’s on-line security, long-stalled rail security laws, low-income web subsidies, hashish banking and efforts to “outcompete the Chinese language authorities.”
Final month, Senate Commerce Committee Chair Maria Cantwell stated she was contemplating holding a public listening to on a TikTok crackdown invoice and stated senators need laws to handle considerations in regards to the app.
“The important thing level right here is getting a instrument that can be utilized to cease international actors from doing deleterious issues which may hurt US residents,” Cantwell stated. “We’re get it get completed and we’re not going to take perpetually.”
The destiny of TikTok, utilized by about 170 million Individuals, has turn out to be a significant situation in Washington the place lawmakers have been flooded with calls from users who oppose the legislation.
“A ban on TikTok would violate the First Modification rights of 170 million Individuals,” TikTok stated on Friday.
Many lawmakers and the Biden administration say TikTok poses national security risks as a result of China might compel TikTok to share American consumer knowledge, whereas TikTok insists it has by no means shared US knowledge and by no means would.
TikTok says it has spent greater than $1.5 billion on the trouble to guard US knowledge and home it within the US.
