White House-backed legislation to "ban" TikTok is toothless and includes a loophole that will let the Biden administration avoid taking real action against the Chinese social media app, according to congressional China hawks pushing for more direct action.
The behind-the-scenes pushback from lawmakers could end up sinking the Senate bill, known as the RESTRICT Act, which would give the president new authorities to restrict social media applications run by foreign adversaries. But the bill does not make any specific mention of TikTok, and critics say the White House is backing the legislation precisely because it doesn't require the administration to ban the social media platform, which has been deemed a national security threat.
"Congress already has produced multiple bills that would finish what the Trump administration started and ban TikTok," Rep. Jim Banks (R., Ind.) told the Washington Free Beacon. "The Biden administration is endorsing this half-measure to avoid confronting their biggest benefactors—China and Big Tech."
