The Senate Commerce Committee chair indicated on Thursday that the Senate will not consider legislation this year that would give the Biden administration new authorities to confront foreign-owned apps like TikTok that have sparked national security concerns.
Senator Maria Cantwell told Reuters that she is still working on legislation and in discussions with federal agencies and that the Senate held a classified briefing on concerns last month.
“We’re really trying to get people to come up with something that they feel like accomplishes the task,” she said.
Concerns about the Chinese-owned TikTok prompted moves in Congress to strengthen authority to address the popular short video-sharing app or perhaps prohibit it, but those proposals have stalled, according to Reuters.
Given Tiktok’s popularity among young voters, several observers believe Congress and the White House will unlikely try to ban it in 2024, an election year.
TikTok, which has over 150 million users in the US, denies improperly using US data.
The White House approved legislation sponsored by Senator Mark Warner and more than a dozen other senators that would give the administration new authority to ban TikTok and other foreign-based technology if they posed national security risks.
Ariel Ben Solomon is the Growth and Strategy manager at Ecomhunt. He is the host of the Ecomhunt Podcast. Can be followed on Twitter at @ArielBenSolomon
