Congress seems more determined to ban TikTok than ever

Taking his seat before dozens of House Energy and Commerce Committee members Thursday, he opened a packet of notes, diligently indexed with sticky notes. In the packet, there appeared to be a sheet matching the names and faces of the lawmakers preparing to question him — many of whom had already made up their minds over whether the app was safe for Americans.

“Your platform should be banned,” Chair Cathy McMorris-Rodgers (R-WA) said in her opening statement Thursday. “I expect today you’ll say anything to avoid this outcome.”

For more than three years, TikTok has been operating under the looming threat of a nationwide ban. But what was once a GOP-led campaign admonishing the popular video-sharing app as a threat to national security has now evolved into a government-wide, bipartisan effort to ban it outright.

Over the last few months alone, Republicans and Democrats have rallied behind legislation barring TikTok from operating in the US. Intelligence officials have called the app “a tool” of the Chinese government, and the Biden administration has reportedly backed the company into a corner. If TikTok doesn’t agree to find an American replacement for its Beijing-based owner, ByteDance, it will be banned. 

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