Speaker Johnson Commends House Passage of the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act

March 13, 2024

Contact: Taylor Haulsee

WASHINGTON — Speaker Johnson released the following statement after the House passed the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act. 

“Communist China is America’s largest geopolitical foe and is using technology to actively undermine America’s economy and security. Apps like TikTok allow the Chinese CommunistParty to push harmful content to our youth and engage in malign activities, such as harvesting the location, purchasing habits, contacts, and sensitive data of Americans. Today’s bipartisan vote demonstrates Congress’ opposition to Communist China’s attemptsto spy on and manipulate Americans, and signals our resolve to deter our enemies. I urge the Senate to pass this bill and send it to the President so he can sign it into law.”

Background on the legislation:

The Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act would prohibit the distribution and maintenance of applications controlled by foreign adversaries that pose a clear threat to national security. The bill requires the owner of the application to cease operation or divest itself of its U.S.-based operations. In the case of TikTok, the application is operated by ByteDance, a company closely linked to the Communist Chinese Party (CCP).

The bill would also create a process for the President to designate other social media applications that are subject to the control of a foreign adversary. If so designated, the applications would face a similar prohibition on app stores and web hosting services in the U.S. unless they sever ties to the threatening entities by divestment.

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