Schumer Says US Senate Can Make Progress on TikTok Bill

Senate Democratic Chief Chuck Schumer on Friday outlined a busy agenda for lawmakers returning to Washington, saying they’ll make progress “on a path ahead on TikTok laws.”

The Senate is returning to work subsequent week after a two-week recess. The US Home of Representatives voted 352-65 on March 13 to provide TikTok’s Chinese language proprietor, ByteDance, about six months to divest the US property of the short-video app, or face a ban.

Schumer’s assertion didn’t define a particular place on TikTok however stated “within the weeks and months forward, we now have the chance to make progress on bipartisan payments” together with a measure on TikTok.

Congressional aides say there isn’t a quick motion deliberate on TikTok as senators proceed to debate subsequent steps.

Schumer referenced different bipartisan payments the place progress is feasible together with youngsters’s on-line security, long-stalled rail security laws, low-income web subsidies, hashish banking and efforts to “outcompete the Chinese language authorities.”

Final month, Senate Commerce Committee Chair Maria Cantwell stated she was contemplating holding a public listening to on a TikTok crackdown invoice and stated senators need laws to handle issues in regards to the app.

“The important thing level right here is getting a software that can be utilized to cease international actors from doing deleterious issues that may hurt US residents,” Cantwell stated. “We’re get it get executed and we’re not going to take eternally.”

The destiny of TikTok, utilized by about 170 million People, has turn out to be a significant situation in Washington the place lawmakers have been flooded with calls from customers who oppose the laws.

“A ban on TikTok would violate the First Modification rights of 170 million People,” TikTok stated on Friday.

Many lawmakers and the Biden administration say TikTok poses nationwide safety dangers as a result of China may compel TikTok to share American consumer knowledge, whereas TikTok insists it has by no means shared US knowledge and by no means would.

TikTok says it has spent greater than $1.5 billion on the trouble to guard US knowledge and home it in the USA.

By David Shepardson; Modifying by Matthew Lewis

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Senate Commerce Chair Maria Cantwell stated she’s contemplating holding a public listening to on TikTok and social media following a labeled briefing Wednesday with US intelligence officers.