News

The Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, which was signed into law in April, prohibits ByteDance-controlled applications, including TikTok, from U.S. app store availability or web hosting services. The law addresses the national security threat posed by Communist China’s control of the apps.

TikTok has since brought legal challenges in Tiktok, et al. v. Garland, incorrectly claiming that the bill is unconstitutional. 

U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) and U.S. Representative John Moolenaar (R-MI) led a bipartisan and bicameral group of colleagues in filing an Amicus brief, in Tiktok, et al. v. Garland, defending the constitutionality of the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act. 

• “…the Divestiture Act does not regulate speech or require any social-media company to stop operating in the United States. The Divestiture Act is instead focused entirely on the regulation of foreign adversary control and provides a clear, achievable path for affected companies to resolve the pressing and non-hypothetical national security threats posed by their current ownership structures.

• “Backed by extensive fact finding about the national security threat to the American people posed by certain foreign adversary controlled applications, the Divestiture Act resembles and, indeed, is narrower than numerous other restrictions on foreign ownership that Congress has enacted in other statutory regimes. And Congress did not transcend the limits imposed by the First Amendment and other Constitutional restraints, because ‘it is long settled as a matter of American constitutional law that foreign citizens outside U.S. territory do not possess right under the U.S. Constitution.’”

Flashback … Rubio has led the charge to stop the Chinese Communist Party from using TikTok against the U.S., first speaking on the issue in 2019.

Want more information?

• April 2024: Rubio on TikTok Law: “Communist China is on the Clock”
• April 2024: Rubio in 2019: Communist China Will Use TikTok Against America
• March 2024: Rubio, Warner Urge Senate Action to Protect Americans from TikTok
• March 2024: Rubio: Stop China from Using TikTok Against America
• March 2024: FBI Director Affirms Danger of TikTok at Worldwide Threats Hearing
• June 2023: Rubio Calls for DOJ Investigation Into TikTok CEO Committing Perjury
• February 2023: Momentum Grows to Ban Chinese-Owned TikTok, as Rubio and King Reintroduce Bipartisan Bill
• December 2022: Rubio, Gallagher Introduce Bipartisan Legislation to Ban TikTok
• September 2020: Rubio, Colleagues Underscore Significant Concerns Regarding Oracle’s TikTok Deal
• August 2020: Rubio Welcomes President’s Actions to Address National Security Threat Posed by China’s TikTok, WeChat
• April 2021: Rubio Joins Hawley, Scott in Introducing Legislation to Ban TikTok from Government Devices
• October 2019: Rubio Requests CFIUS Review of TikTok After Reports of Chinese Censorship