The House bill passed earlier this week would give TikTok's Chinese owner ByteDance about six months to divest the U.S. assets of the short-video app or face a ban, a move that doesn't ban content or impede with free speech, says Rep. Jeff Van Drew, R-N.J.
"Nothing is banned; nothing is censured; no content is banned; there's no issue with freedom of speech. It's important to note that I believe in the First Amendment very much. However, this is different. This is a company that has a relationship in China where they are harvesting information about everything in America," Van Drew said Saturday during an appearance on Newsmax's "Saturday Agenda."
"Some of it is sensitive information. Quite frankly, when you look at the classified materials, it makes you worry and it makes you wonder what they are up to.
"It's just as if they were buying farmland right next to very sensitive military installations or float a spy balloon. ... All this bill says is, 'Divest yourself of your Chinese interest, find an American interest, and move forward and say and do whatever you want to do. That's fine. It's OK.' The bill also says this not only applies to China but to Russia, who's trying to do the same thing; North Korea; and, of course, China."
The bill passed 352-65 in a bipartisan vote, but it faces a more uncertain path in the Senate, where some favor a different approach to regulating foreign-owned apps posing security concerns. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said the Senate will review the legislation.
The measure is the latest in a series of moves in Washington to respond to U.S. national security concerns about China, from connected vehicles to advanced artificial intelligence chips to cranes at U.S. ports.
The fate of TikTok, used by about 170 million Americans, has become a major issue in Washington, where lawmakers have complained their offices have been flooded with calls from TikTok users who oppose the legislation.
Van Drew said the bill's goal was to stop "something that's nefarious and evil to America and to the freedom of our citizens."
"Nobody wants to stop the fun that people are having on Tik Tok. We do want to stop the harvesting of information to be used against us," he added.
Information from Reuters was used in this report.
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