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The lawmakers, led by Republican Representative Dan Crenshaw and
Democrat Josh Gottheimer, in a letter to Commerce Secretary Gina
Raimondo urged that ByteDance be added to what is known as the
"Entity List" in order "to address critical vulnerabilities
created by the company’s access to U.S. software."
The request comes after efforts have stalled in Congress to ban
TikTok or give the Biden administration new powers to restrict
the short-video-sharing app, which is used by more than 170
million Americans. Security concerns about TikTok include the
potential that the Chinese government could use it to control
data on millions of U.S. users.
The Commerce Department did not immediately comment on the
letter.
Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo in October had said that TikTok
"poses national security risks," and said she supported
legislation giving Commerce new tools to address risks from
apps.
A TikTok spokesperson on Thursday said the letter from lawmakers
misrepresents the facts and the law and "ignores the
industry-leading work we've done to safeguard protected U.S.
user data. We've engaged in good faith with Congress and
relevant agencies through the CFIUS process for over four years
and we continue to do so."
The U.S. Treasury-led Committee on Foreign Investment in the
United States (CFIUS) in March demanded that TikTok's Chinese
owners sell their shares, or face the possibility of the app's
being banned, Reuters and other outlets reported, but the
administration has taken no action.
The lawmakers, in their letter to Raimondo, added, "If American
users are not able to upgrade their app with software updates,
which involves the export of U.S. software, then the operability
of the applications of concern will be weakened."
Some analysts think Congress and the White House are unlikely to
try to ban TikTok this year, given the November elections and
TikTok's popularity with young voters.
Biden's predecessor, Republican Donald Trump, tried to ban
TikTok in 2020 but was blocked by U.S. courts.
The White House last year backed legislation to give the
administration new powers to ban TikTok and other foreign-based
technologies if they pose national security threats, but it has
never come up for a vote.
(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Chris Reese and
Leslie Adler)
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