Biden Revokes Trump Bans on TikTok
President Joe Biden revoked former President Donald Trump’s bans on U.S. transactions with major Chinese apps. Biden replaced them Wednesday with an executive order directing the Commerce Department to evaluate “transactions involving” apps “that may pose an undue risk of sabotage or subversion of” U.S. information and communications technology. Last month, Biden revoked Trump’s social media order that sought an FCC rulemaking to clarify interpretation of Communications Decency Act Section 230 (see 2105140074).
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The new order revoked Trump’s 2020 EOs banning U.S. transactions with TikTok and WeChat (see 2008070061). It revoked Trump’s January EO banning some transactions with Alipay and eight other Chinese apps (see 2101060039). The new EO directs Commerce to present the White House with recommendations in 120 days “to protect against harm from the unrestricted sale of, transfer of, or access to” U.S. “persons' sensitive data … from access to large data repositories by persons owned or controlled by, or subject to the jurisdiction or direction of, a foreign adversary.” The order directed the Office of the Director of National Intelligence to “provide threat assessments” and the Department of Homeland Security to “provide vulnerability assessments” to Commerce to help develop those recommendations. The order doesn’t revoke a Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. deadline for TikTok to divest itself from Chinese parent ByteDance, an action that “remains under active discussion,” a Biden official told reporters on condition the person not be named.
Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Mark Warner, D-Va., praised Biden’s EO. It “adopts a risk-based, transparent, and comprehensive approach to evaluating the security and privacy risks of foreign technology products, a clear contrast to the previous administration’s uncoordinated approach,” he said. Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., a frequent TikTok critic, called Biden’s action a “major mistake” that “shows alarming complacency regarding” the Chinese government’s “access to Americans’ personal information,” and that country’s “growing corporate influence.” TikTok and WeChat didn’t comment.
Senate passage Tuesday (see 2106080074) of the anti-China U.S. Innovation and Competition Act (S-1260) spurred several stakeholders to seek House action. The final vote was 68-32. The measure, previously known as the Endless Frontier Act, includes $52 billion for U.S. chipmaking and $1.5 billion to implement the Utilizing Strategic Allied Telecom Act (see 2105210056). “This funding isn’t just about addressing the current semiconductor chip shortage, it is about long-term investments in semiconductor manufacturing and research and development,” said Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo.
Warner urged “our colleagues in the House” to pass S-1260 “without delay,” saying “for too long, the U.S. has allowed competitors like China to out-invest us” on semiconductor R&D. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., hailed the inclusion in S-1260 of language from her Merger Filing Fee Modernization Act (S-228).