Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) said on Tuesday he will introduce legislation to ban TikTok nationwide, charging that it violates the privacy of Americans.
“.@tiktok_us is China’s backdoor into Americans’ lives. It threatens our children’s privacy as well as their mental health. Last month Congress banned it on all government devices. Now I will introduce legislation to ban it nationwide,” the Missouri populist wrote.
Hawley for years has moved to rein in TikTok.
Hawley and Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) proposed legislation in March 2020 that would ban TikTok from all federal government devices, citing cybersecurity concerns and possible spying by the Chinese government.
Congress passed Hawley’s bill to ban TikTok, which was signed into law on December 29, 2022. The bill was included in the $1.7 trillion, 4,155-page omnibus spending bill.
Hawley has questioned tech executives about their companies’ potential compliance with Chinese law that could provide the Chinese Communist Party access to data that could endanger Americans’ privacy.
Public officials and pundits across the political spectrum have contended that TikTok amounts to a national security concern.
Hawley has questioned tech companies’ compliance with China’s laws since 2019.
