Washington’s battle against digital threats took a decisive turn yesterday as Congresswoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers, chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, steered a unanimous committee blessing for two robust bills aimed squarely at the heart of foreign espionage through popular apps and data brokers. The bills aim to shore up America's protections against the likes of China, a move showing the U.S. isn't playing games when it comes to online security and national interests.
The Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, known in congressional shorthand as H.R. 7521, directly targets applications such as TikTok, which lawmakers fear could be used to manipulate the American populace, according to an announcement made by McMorris Rodgers. The legislation demands that Bytedance, TikTok’s parent company, divest the app in 180 days or face a ban in the States. The second piece, H.R. 7520, clamps down on data brokers, limiting the ways American’s sensitive info might make its way into unfriendly hands abroad.
"This is just a small taste of how the CCP weaponizes applications it controls to manipulate tens of millions of people to further its agenda," McMorris Rodgers stated, referring to an incident that morning where TikTok reportedly pressured users to act against the potential ban. The congresswoman took the incident as an egregious example of the sort of manipulation the legislation steels itself against.
Underlining the gravity of the issue, McMorris Rodgers elaborated on the two-fold strategy that H.R. 7521 deploys: divestment of foreign-controlled apps and a strict process that allows for executive prohibition of apps posing a national security threat—a protective measure, not a carte blanche for app bans. She stressed, "The Executive agencies...must agree that a foreign adversary-controlled application poses a threat to national security."
"Today we will take the first step in creating long overdue laws to protect Americans from the threat posed by apps controlled by our adversaries," McMorris Rodgers added, painting a clear picture of a nation ready to defend its data sovereignty. Both pieces of legislation, marked by their bipartisan support, are yet another indication that the nation will not tolerate the exploitative strategies of foreign entities on American digital turf.
