With the strong support and vote of Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), the House of Representatives today voted overwhelmingly (352-65) to require TikTok to sever its ties with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in order to help protect the data of tens of millions of Americans—especially children—and mitigate national security risks posed by the brutal regime. The bipartisan Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act (HR 7521) now moves to the Senate for consideration.

            “This critical legislation is aimed at countering the Chinese Communist Party’s efforts to sway public opinion in its favor—especially that of the younger generation—through the use of the social media app TikTok, as well as preventing the collection of data on Americans,” said Smith, who has chaired nearly 100 congressional hearings on the CCP’s egregious human rights abuses.

            House passage of the legislation comes less than a week after Smith pressed TikTok executives for answers on the Chinese-owned company’s recruitment of American minors for its recent all-out lobbying campaign against the bill.

            “Just this last week we saw a real time demonstration of the insidious use of TikTok: the targeting of American children with Communist Party propaganda—during school hours—and the recruiting of minors to act unwittingly as foreign agents of the Chinese Communist Party,” said Smith.

            Smith raised just some of the serious national security risks posed by TikTok, whose parent company ByteDance is headquartered in China—with offices in Beijing—and is compelled to participate in a strategic partnership with the CCP’s Ministry of Public Security.

            “Under China’s Cybersecurity Law, companies are required to provide any information asked for to police or intelligence agencies,” said Smith. “One former ByteDance official, Yintao Yu, has said that the CCP has access to all the company’s data—including data stored in the US.”

            “TikTok has conceded as much,” Smith continued. “Just look at the company’s privacy policy, which says it can share user data with ByteDance and various governments around the world if required: ‘We may disclose any of the Information we collect to respond to… government inquires,’ as well as to ‘comply with any applicable law.’”

            “The CCP connection with TikTok and its Chinese parent is something that is very tangible,” said Smith, noting that ByteDance—like many Chinese companies—has an internal Communist Party Committee within its corporate structure.

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