Staff Reports
The House panel just took a big step towards kicking TikTok, that pesky Chinese-owned social media app, out of the good ol’ U.S. of A. Those lawmakers are not messing around when it comes to protecting American kids from the influence of the Chinese Communist Party. The House Energy and Commerce Committee, led by the fierce Rep. Mike Gallagher, gave a big thumbs up to the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act.
This new bill is all about kicking China, Russia, and Iran-owned apps to the curb. Specifically, it’s targeting the big bad wolf, TikTok, and its not-so-innocent parent company, ByteDance. These lawmakers are saying, “You’ve got a choice, TikTok. Either cut ties with your Chinese overlords, or get out of our country.” It’s as simple as that. Oh, and there’s also another bill, the Protecting Americans’ Data from Foreign Adversaries Act, because, you know, we can’t have those sneaky data brokers selling American user data to our foreign adversaries.
Now, those cunning TikTok folks aren’t just sitting around twiddling their thumbs. Nope, they launched a massive campaign to get their users to flood Congress with calls to oppose this bill. High schoolers and young ‘uns were ringing up those congressional offices like there was no tomorrow, all because TikTok scared them with the threat of a “complete ban.” And get this, some of these callers didn’t even know what they were talking about! Some even used fake names and one even made a threat of self-harm. Can you believe it?
But these lawmakers are no fools. They see right through TikTok’s dirty tactics. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers ain’t buying it. She’s calling TikTok out for using and abusing American users just to save their Communist Party-controlled parent company. And Rep. Gallagher? He’s making it crystal clear that this ain’t a ban, folks. It’s just a little snip-snip to cut off TikTok’s ties with the Communist Party.
Plus, this bill is getting some big-time support. Speaker of the House Mike Johnson and the White House are all for it. With that kind of backing, TikTok might as well pack up its bags right now. Sure, some senators are squawking about the constitutionality of it all, but who cares? This bill is ready to rumble, and TikTok better watch out.
TikTok didn’t bother to respond to the Washington Examiner’s request for comment. They probably know they can’t talk their way out of this one. Tick-tock, TikTok. Your time might be up!
