US Commerce head backs legislation to address TikTok, threats

October 8, 2023

By David Shepardson

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo supports legislation giving the Commerce Department new tools to address foreign adversary-owned app information concerns, she said on Wednesday.

Her comments come as concerns about Chinese-owned TikTok have sparked new efforts in Congress to boost powers to address it or potentially ban the popular short video sharing app, but those bills have stalled in Congress. TikTok, which has more than 150 million U.S. users, denies it improperly uses U.S. data.

“Certainly TikTok poses national security risks to be clear but we need a comprehensive plan,” Raimondo said at a Senate Commerce Committee hearing.

Commerce needs new legal tools from Congress “to have a comprehensive approach to these connected apps that pose national security risks,” Raimondo said.

US Commerce head backs legislation to address TikTok, threats — FILE PHOTO: U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo attends a press conference at the Boeing Shanghai Aviation Services near the Shanghai Pudong International Airport, in Shanghai, China August 30, 2023. REUTERS/Aly Song/File Photo

TikTok did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

In March, the head of the FBI said the Chinese government could use TikTok to control data on millions of U.S. users, saying the Chinese-owned video app “screams” of security concerns.

TikTok said it has spent more than $1.5 billion on rigorous data security efforts and rejects spying allegations.

Raimondo backed legislation introduced by Senators Mark Warner and John Thune and 24 other senators in March called the Restrict Act that would authorize the Commerce Department to review or block a range of transactions involving foreign information and communications technology that pose national security risks like TikTok and also said she supports a separate similar bill that is being drafted by Senator Maria Cantwell called the Guard Act.

“I am often asked should we outlaw TikTok? This is bigger than TikTok,” Raimondo said.

Reuters and other outlets reported in March the Biden administration demanded that TikTok’s Chinese owners divest their stakes in the popular video app or face a possible U.S. ban.

Separately, Raimondo said she hopes to announce the first chips funding award announcements from the government’s $39 billion semiconductor subsidy program this fall.

“I am moving as fast as I can but it’s more important to get it right than move fast,” Raimondo said at a Senate Commerce Committee hearing answering questions about the program created by Congress in August 2022. “I hope we will have some chips funding announcements this fall.”