Brown Statement on Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act

Washington, DC – Today, the House passed the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act (H.R. 7521). The bill prevents web hosting or app store availability in the U.S. for applications controlled by foreign adversaries, like ByteDance, unless the application, like Tik Tok, severs ties to entities subject to the control of a foreign adversary. The bill passed in an overwhelmingly bipartisan vote of 352-65-1.

Congresswoman Shontel Brown (OH-11) is a member of the House Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party and an original cosponsor of the legislation.

Congresswoman Brown releases the following statement:

“This bipartisan legislation is needed to protect our national security and the privacy of American consumers. As a member of the House Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party, there are clear and legitimate concerns about applications subject to control by our foreign adversaries. It is imperative Congress take action to protect the public, young and old. The strong bipartisan support for this legislation in the House indicates the gravity of the need to take action to protect the public.

“The bill requires TikTok and other affected social media platforms to divest and end their relationship with any known adversary of the United States. It does not immediately ban any affected social media platform, contrary to what you may have heard. Congress has an obligation to protect social media users and our country’s security interests.  We cannot let our personal data information sources be controlled and manipulated by any foreign adversary.”

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