Senate Commerce Committee Chair Maria Cantwell is thinking about holding a public hearing regarding a crackdown bill. TikTok crackdown bill after lawmakers got a closed-door briefing from U.S. national intelligence and Justice Department officials.
Cantwell told reporters that it's crucial to do it correctly and did not provide a specific timeframe for the next steps.
On March 13, the U.S. House voted 352-65 in favor of making Chinese-based ByteDance sell off the short video app TikTok within six months or face a ban.
Cantwell mentioned that senators are seeking legislation to address worries about TikTok.
Cantwell emphasized the importance of having a tool to prevent foreign actors from doing harmful things to U.S. citizens and stated that they are intent on getting it done without delay.
Cantwell intends to meet with Rep. Mike Gallagher, a House sponsor of the legislation, and then develop a plan.
The Senate will be on recess from later this week until April 8.
Cantwell, Senate Intelligence Committee chair Mark Warner, and the top Republicans on the panels, Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz, hosted the classified briefing.
Cantwell mentioned that there's no need to have TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew testify, as they are familiar with the company's position.
The future of TikTok, which is used by about 170 million Americans, has become a major concern in Washington due to opposition from TikTok users.
According to many lawmakers and the Biden administration, TikTok presents national security risks because China could force it to share American user data, while TikTok denies ever sharing U.S. data and insists on protecting it.
TikTok claims to have spent over $1.5 billion on efforts to safeguard and store U.S. data.
–Reporting by David Shepardson, Editing by Nick Zieminski
