WASHINGTON – Today, Congressman Cliff Bentz (R-OR) joined 197 of his Republican and 155 of his Democrat colleagues voting in support of H.R. 7521, The Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, a bipartisan bill aimed at protecting American national security against the threats posed by social media applications controlled by foreign adversary governments. This bill, introduced by Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-WI), passed out of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce by a rare unanimous vote of 50-0.
“It is paramount that we take action to protect Americans from potential surveillance, data breaches, and targeted political messaging orchestrated by apps being controlled by adversarial foreign powers like the People’s Republic of China,” Congressman Bentz stated. “This bill provides a critical framework to safeguard our national security interests while minimizing disruptions to users and businesses.”
Background on H.R. 7521:
H.R. 7521 addresses the urgent need to safeguard Americans and promotes U.S. national security by prohibiting marketplaces like app stores and web hosting services from hosting applications controlled by foreign adversaries, including the PRC, Russia, Iran, and North Korea. Specifically, the Act empowers the President to require divestment of applications controlled by covered companies controlled by foreign adversaries or face a prohibition on app store availability and web hosting services in the United States.
Myth Vs. Fact (Heritage Action for America):
Myth: This bill would ban TikTok.
FACT: The bill gives TikTok a choice: either its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, must divest its ownership and sell the application to a non-Chinese, non-Russian, non-Iranian, or non-North Korean buyer, or the app will face restrictions on its availability in U.S. app stores, such as those operated by Google or Apple. Access to the app would only be disrupted if ByteDance refuses to comply with the divestiture requirement.
More Myths vs Facts can be found HERE.