U.S. lawmakers unveil bipartisan bid to ban China's TikTok - Reuters

WASHINGTON, Dec 13 (Reuters) - Republican Senator Marco Rubio connected Tuesday announced bipartisan authorities to prohibition China's fashionable societal media app TikTok, ratcheting up unit connected proprietor ByteDance Ltd amid U.S. fears the app could beryllium utilized to spy connected Americans and censure content.

The authorities would artifact each transactions from immoderate societal media institution successful oregon nether the power of China and Russia, Rubio's bureau said successful a quality release, adding that a companion measure successful the U.S. House of Representatives was sponsored by Republican congressman Mike Gallagher and Democrat Raja Krishnamoorthi.

"It is troubling that alternatively than encouraging the medication to reason its nationalist information reappraisal of TikTok, immoderate members of Congress person decided to propulsion for a politically-motivated prohibition that volition bash thing to beforehand the nationalist information of the United States," a TikTok spokesperson said successful a statement, adding that the institution would proceed to little members of Congress connected the plans that are "well underway" to "further unafraid our level successful the United States."

The measure comes arsenic scrutiny of TikTok has grown successful Washington successful caller weeks, aft a failed bid by the Trump medication to prohibition the video-sharing app.

At a proceeding past month, FBI Director Chris Wray said TikTok's U.S. operations rise nationalist information concerns, flagging the hazard that the Chinese authorities could harness it to power users oregon power their devices.

Alabama and Utah connected Monday joined different U.S. states prohibiting the usage of TikTok connected authorities authorities devices and machine networks owed to nationalist information concerns. work much

In 2020, then-President Donald Trump attempted to artifact caller users from downloading TikTok and prohibition different transactions that would person efficaciously blocked the apps' usage successful the United States but mislaid a bid of tribunal battles implicit the measure.

The U.S. government's Committee connected Foreign Investment successful the United States (CFIUS), a almighty nationalist information body, successful 2020 ordered ByteDance to divest TikTok due to the fact that of fears that U.S. idiosyncratic information could beryllium passed connected to China's communist government.

CFIUS and TikTok person been successful talks for months aiming to scope a nationalist information statement to support the information of TikTok's much than 100 cardinal users.

Reporting by Alexandra Alper; Editing by Jonathan Oatis, Alexandra Hudson and Marguerita Choy

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.