The Truth About the TikTok Ban Bill
Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act
I have shared below the text from the proposed TikTok ban bill which is the subject of the greatest gaslighting by politicians, business leaders, and influencers. The American public is being misled by Elon Musk, Vivek Ramaswamy, Donald Trump, Representative Thomas Massie and Senator Rand Paul regarding the powers the bill grants the government. The bill is clear and concise as to defining “foreign adversary applications and service”. There is no ambiguity. It clearly lays out the conditions under which a President may take action. In no instance, may the United States government ban a US application or service, where domestic ownership of said application or service is 80 percent or greater, or when foreign ownership does not satisfy the conditions of a ‘foreign adversary.’
The text I shared is a flow of the text in the bill defining foreign adversary controlled applications, services and foreign adversary countries to whom the bill applies.
As a reminder, our US Constitution grants to the legislative branch the power to govern commerce:
Article 1, Section 8
The Congress shall have Power…
To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes;
To make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers, and all other Powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of the United States, or in any Department or Officer thereof.
A BILL
To protect the national security of the United States from the threat posed by foreign adversary controlled applications, such as TikTok and any successor application or service and any other application or service developed or provided by ByteDance Ltd. or an entity under the control of ByteDance Ltd.
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act’’.
SEC. 2. PROHIBITION OF FOREIGN ADVERSARY CONTROLLED APPLICATIONS.
2. APPLICABILITY.—Subsection (a) shall apply—
3 (A) in the case of an application that satisfies the definition of a foreign adversary controlled application pursuant to subsection (g)(3)(A)
(g) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: (1) CONTROLLED BY A FOREIGN ADVERSARY.—
1. The term ‘‘controlled by a foreign adversary’’ means, with respect to a covered company or other entity, that such company or other entity is—
(A) a foreign person that is domiciled in, is headquartered in, has its principal place of business in, or is organized under the laws of a foreign adversary country;
(B) an entity with respect to which a foreign person or combination of foreign persons described in subparagraph (A) directly or indirectly own at least a 20 percent stake; or
(C) a person subject to the direction or control of a foreign person or entity described in subparagraph (A) or (B).
(2) COVERED COMPANY.—
(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘covered company’’ means an entity that operates, directly or indirectly (including through a parent company, subsidiary, or affiliate), a website, desktop application, mobile application, or augmented or immersive technology application that—
(i) permits a user to create an account or profile to generate, share, and view text, images, videos, real-time communications, or similar content;
(ii) has more than 1,000,000 monthly active users with respect to at least 2 of the 3 months preceding the date on which a relevant determination of the President is made pursuant to paragraph (3)(B);
(iii) enables 1 or more users to generate or distribute content that can be viewed by other users of the website, desktop application, mobile application, or augmented or immersive technology application; and
(iv) enables 1 or more users to view content generated by other users of the website, desktop application, mobile application, or augmented or immersive technology application.
3. FOREIGN ADVERSARY CONTROLLED APPLICATION.—The term ‘‘foreign adversary controlled application’’ means a website, desktop application, mobile application, or augmented or immersive technology application that is operated, directly or indirectly (including through a parent company, subsidiary, or affiliate), by—
(A) any of—
(i) ByteDance, Ltd.;
(ii) TikTok;
(iii) a subsidiary of or a successor to an entity identified in clause (i) or (ii) that is controlled by a foreign adversary; or
(iv) an entity owned or controlled, directly or indirectly, by an entity identified in clause (i), (ii), or (iii); or
(B) a covered company that—
(i) is controlled by a foreign adversary; AND
(ii) that is determined by the President to present a significant threat to the national security of the United States following the issuance of—
(I) a public notice proposing such determination; and
(II) a public report to Congress, submitted not less than 30 days before such determination, describing the specific national security concern involved and containing a classified annex and a description of what assets would need to be divested to execute a qualified divestiture.
(4) FOREIGN ADVERSARY COUNTRY.—The term ‘‘foreign adversary country’’ means a country specified in section 4872(d)(2) of title 10, United States Code.
I then went and looked up Title 10, Section 4872(d)2 and this is what it says:
Title 10, Section 4872(d)(2)
Covered nation.—The term “covered nation” means—
(A) the Democratic People’s Republic of North Korea;
(B) the People’s Republic of China;
(C ) the Russian Federation; and
(D) the Islamic Republic of Iran.
The TikTok ban bill does not threaten businesses owned by US citizens, US corporations, or foreign-owned businesses, as long as none of the aforementioned may be deemed a foreign adversary controlled business. End of debate.