WH eyes power to shut down US usage

The Biden administration urged both Democrats and Republicans Tuesday to quickly pass newly introduced legislation that would give the president the power to shut down TikTok over possible national-security concerns.

The strong signal from the White House comes as lawmakers from both sides of the aisle introduced a bill in the Senate on Tuesday that could squash the Chinese-owned social-media app in the US, where it is currently used by more than 100 million Americans, many of them younger than 30.

National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said the proposal would buff up the country’s ability to fight off risks from other countries.

“We look forward to continue working with both Democrats and Republicans on this bill and urge Congress to act quickly to send it to the president’s desk,” Sullivan said in a statement.

Under the bill, the Commerce Department would be able to restrict and even banish TikTok, owned by ByteDance, and other technologies that pose national-security threats, Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) said.

Foreign technologies from China, Russia, North Korea, Iran, Venezuela and Cuba would all be targeted, the Senate Intelligence Committee chairman said.

Concerns have been ongoing that the short-video sharing platform gives the Chinese government access to data of Americans glued to the popular platform.

Six Democrats and six Republicans in the Senate are co-sponsoring the legislation.

“Over the past several years, foreign adversaries of the United States have encroached on American markets through technology products that steal sensitive location and identifying information of US citizens, including social-media platforms like TikTok,” Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) said in a statement.

“This dangerous new Internet infrastructure poses serious risks to our nation’s economic and national security.”