US lawmakers target TikTok in debate over regulating data privacy
- Concerns are raised that the US is falling behind other countries in enacting a comprehensive federal data privacy and security law
- One expert warns that inaction will mean ‘ceding leadership and influence in setting international standards to both Europe and China’
Representative Cathy McMorris Rodgers, a Republican from Washington state, and other members of the House subcommittee on innovation, data and commerce agreed on the need for a data law strong enough to counter vulnerabilities they say the Chinese government exploits.
Reiterating the concerns that members of Congress and other policymakers have expressed about efforts to commandeer American data and use online channels to undermine national security interests, Representative Diana Harshbarger, a Republican from Tennessee, likened TikTok to opium addiction.
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“I’ve seen reports that detail China’s version of TikTok, which offers the friendly version with educational videos and learning tools and time limits,” she said. “And then you come over here and you see the opium version, which addicts our children in front of their phone.”
Most members at the hearing, including Democrats, lauded a data privacy act that was approved the House Energy and Commerce Committee last year.
The American Data Privacy and Protection Act, which would have required online services to disclose whether any of the data they hold is accessible to entities in China, faced opposition in the Senate and never made it to a vote on the House floor.
“We made history last year when we passed” the act, Rodgers said. “But our work isn’t over yet, as we have already fallen behind other countries in establishing a national privacy law.”