McCaul Lauds SCOTUS Decision on TikTok
WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Congressman Michael McCaul (R-Texas) — chairman emeritus of the House Foreign Affairs Committee — released the following statement on the Supreme Court’s decision to uphold legislation in McCaul’s 21st Century Peace Through Strength Act, which forced Bytedance to divest from TikTok or face a ban in the U.S.
“Under Bytedance’s ownership, TikTok is a modern-day Trojan Horse of the Chinese Communist Party, which uses the app to manipulate mass audiences, surveil their activity, and weaponize their personal data. We’ve seen the CCP wield this type of data against its own people to spy on, interrogate, and even imprison political opponents and minority groups. It sends shivers down my spine to think of how they intend to use similar data against America’s youth.
“The Supreme Court’s decision — which both upholds Congress’ intent and protects U.S. national security — couldn’t come at a more crucial time. President Biden’s appeasement strategy toward China has left Americans more vulnerable than ever to the threat of the CCP. I look forward to the Trump administration once again putting our nation first and urge them to start by closing the CCP’s back-door access to Americans’ personal devices.”
Rep. McCaul has been sounding the alarm about the threat from TikTok since 2019. McCaul’s 21st Century Peace Through Strength Act contained a provision authored by former Rep. Gallagher to force Bytedance to divest from TikTok or face a ban in the U.S. As stated in the bill, if Bytedance sells TikTok to a company based in the U.S. or any non-adversarial country, TikTok could continue to operate in the United States.
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