Bowling Green Today

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Congressman Brett Guthrie (KY-02), a senior member of the House Energy & Commerce Committee, voted in favor of H.R.7521, the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, aimed at safeguarding American national security and sensitive data from threats posed by foreign adversaries, particularly the Chinese Communist Party.

In his statement following the vote, Congressman Guthrie emphasized the importance of the bill in addressing the risks associated with Chinese Communist Party-controlled entities like ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok. Guthrie clarified that the legislation does not outright ban TikTok but requires it to be divested from CCP control to operate in the United States.

Guthrie highlighted the need to protect American national security against adversarial entities that seek to target, surveil, and influence the American populace through covert means. He commended the efforts of the Energy & Commerce Committee in advancing measures to safeguard the nation's data and urged the Senate to promptly consider the legislation for further protection.

The Act prohibits marketplaces from hosting applications controlled by foreign adversaries, including the CCP, Russian Federation, Islamic Republic of Iran, and Democratic People’s Republic of North Korea. It establishes a framework allowing the President to mandate divestment of applications controlled by foreign adversary-covered companies or face prohibition from app stores and web hosting services in the U.S.

Furthermore, the legislation incentivizes divestment from CCP control, stipulating that TikTok must be divested to avoid a ban in the U.S. The Act also empowers users and small businesses to switch platforms if necessary, while ensuring that individual users of banned applications are not subject to enforcement actions.

The focus of the Act remains on foreign adversary entities and aims to protect individual users and small businesses from potential national security risks posed by applications controlled by such entities.

The bill’s provisions seek to balance national security concerns with user interests and provide a tailored solution to mitigate the impact on users while addressing the threats posed by foreign adversaries like the Chinese Communist Party.