As Congress Considers Banning TikTok, Some Sound the Alarm on PATRIOT Act Ties

Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), Republican Speaker of the House, announced on Sunday that he intends to move forward with legislation regarding national security concerns over the TikTok app. It is not hard to imagine why this app has caused justifiable concern for citizens of all stripes. Imagine if you will a hostile foreign government collecting and storing your sensitive information through this app.

At the same token however, there are concerns that the legislation that is being proposed may go too far and be used to weaponize government power against the average citizen in whose name the legislation is said to protect. This article seeks to present the two sides of the ongoing debate about TikTok.

In a paper on the subject, Kara Frederick of The Heritage Foundation highlights the issue that needs to be acted upon. She notes that ByteDance is TikTok’s China-based parent company and, being a Chinese company subject to Chinese law, it must forfeit its data to the Chinese Communist Party upon request. She cites the 2017 National Intelligence Law that “compels private entities and individuals to cooperate with ‘state intelligence work'” and also particularly notes Article 7 of that law which proclaims that “any organization or citizen shall support, assist, and cooperate with state intelligence work according to the law.'”

The paper reveals that former and current Chinese officials work in the parent company of TikTok and documents these extensive ties as well as their public relations campaign to downplay the same. All of this is of great concern because of TikTok’s popularity among American youth today as well as because of its “invasive data-collection practices.” The personal information of TikTok users is at risk of becoming the property of the Chinese government. The justifiable fear is that TikTok can become in effect a mass surveillance tool wielded by a hostile foreign power against non-Chinese citizens.

Congress has proposed dealing with this national security threat via its S. 686 bill (also known as the RESTRICT Act) that “authorize[s] the Secretary of Commerce to review and prohibit certain transactions between persons in the United States and foreign adversaries.” There are however voices raised against this bill as it stands because it will principally grant the government too many over-sweeping powers and the bill goes way beyond TikTok. The Mises Caucus has been vocal about its concerns over this bill.

WATCH: TikTok CEO Crashes and Burns in House Hearing – ‘It Was a Disaster’

The Caucus writes in a Twitter thread that “[t]he RESTRICT Act is not limited to just TikTok. It gives the government authority over all forms of communication domestic or abroad and grants powers to ‘enforce any mitigation measure to address any risk’ to national security now and in any ‘potential future transaction’.”

The RESTRICT Act is not limited to just TikTok. It gives the government authority over all forms of communication domestic or abroad and grants powers to “enforce any mitigation measure to address any risk” to national security now and in any “potential future transaction” pic.twitter.com/0mFNEKLUqU

— Mises Caucus (@LPMisesCaucus) March 26, 2023

“So what happens if you are designated a national security threat? What can they access of yours to confirm it? Everything. Notice the preemptive attack on quantum encryption in there, too” notes the Caucus.

The Caucus details that the bill “also allows the Director of National Intelligence and Secretary of Commerce the authority to universally designate new ‘Foreign Adversaries’ without notifying congress and a 15 day window to notify the president. It also requires a joint resolution of Congress to overturn. If you recall from before, “Foreign Individuals” can now also be US citizens that are deemed a national security threat. Once designated, the bill grants authority to enforce any action deemed necessary to mitigate the threat, with no due process and few limits on punishments.”

They also in the same Twitter thread, the group notes that the punishment, if found guilty, is draconian and that the bill makes its enforcement virtually not reviewable and basically unaccountable through normal means. They also note that bill as proposed, while stating to be against foreign entities, allows action to be taken against anyone who is deemed to be a “threat to ‘critical infrastructure'” citing the Patriot Act as providing the meaning for critical infrastructure.

That is correct, it does say that is is only applicable to foreign entities, however it then allows anyone that poses a threat to “critical infrastructure” pursuant to a section of the patriot act listed here to also have action taken against them in accordance with this bill. https://t.co/XgtvETkkMu pic.twitter.com/excTDbGgpP

— Mises Caucus (@LPMisesCaucus) March 26, 2023

Wise legislation and its enforcement are needed to confront the problem that TikTok poses. Such legislation ought to be narrowly tailored and make its enforcement accountable, transparent, and as reviewable as possible by the public. Americans are no more desirous of their private information being subject to shadowy confiscation by the Communist Chinese than they are of the American government doing the same.