President Biden signed a historical aid package into law on Tuesday that includes aid for Ukraine, Israel, and the Indo-Pacific region. The package also includes a bill increasing sanctions on Russian assets and requiring TikTok owner ByteDance to sell TikTok within 270 days or risk that the app will not be available through app stores or Internet hosting services in the U.S.
The bipartisan bill, entitled “Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act,” classifies TikTok as a foreign adversary-controlled application, which has been confirmed by the FBI and the Five Eyes [see previous blog posts on TikTok here]. TikTok, owned by a foreign adversary, has access to over 170 million Americans’ microphones, cameras, location, contacts, and moment-to-moment movement. It is essentially spyware.
ByteDance vows to sue. How contradictory. A foreign adversary suing for its constitutional rights in the U.S.