Chair Rodgers Joins Newsmax to Talk About Protecting Data and National Security from the CCP

CCP controlled Tik Tock has claimed this bill is an outright ban it is not we have given Tick Tock a Clear Choice divest from your parent company which is beholden to the Chinese Communist party and remain operational in the United States or side with the Chinese Communist party and face a ban he just heard from Washington congresswoman Kathy McMorris Rogers speaking at a hearing this was last week discussing solutions to protect Americans personal data online now at that hearing lawmakers on both sides of the aisle unanimously advancing a bill that would require Tik tok's china-based parent company called bite dance to divest the app or face a US ban the fate of the vote now in the hands of lawmakers this tomorrow and the goal of the bill is to mitigate National Security concerns over whether the Chinese government could gain access to to the personal data of Americans who use the app Tik Tok however has pushed back on those allegations that it poses National Security risk based on its ownership by a Chinese parent company the company writing on X our statement on the latest Tik Tok legislation this bill is an outright ban of Tik Tok no matter how much the authors try to disguise it the legislation will trample the First Amendment rights of 170 million Americans and deprive 5 million small businesses of a platform they rely on to grow and create jobs if the bill is approved bite dance will have six months to sell the app congresswoman Kathy MCM mores Rogers is here with us now she is the chair of the house Energy and Commerce Committee joining us from the capital congresswoman good to see you and thank you so much for coming on at a very serious topic a very serious note here that many many people use this app Tik Tok it's getting a lot of attention including from uh former president Trump just wanted to show you this he put out a statement as well on Truth social a different platform uh he writes if you get rid of Tik Tok fa Facebook and zuckers schmuck will double their business I don't want Facebook who cheated in the last election doing better they are a true enemy of the people again the former president weighing in on this the what would be the presumptive nominee um where do you fall with Tik Tok in in in this we've heard a little bit from you Tik Tok fired back as well do you have a response to the former president uh what we're doing is building a upon what president Trump attempted to do when he was in office uh it is it is unique from Facebook and and meta and other big tech companies this is a unique targeted approach to address a national security threat that an app that apps like Tik Tok controlled by Foreign adversaries like China pose to the American people Tik Tok has repeatedly been caught in the lie that is not beholden to the Chinese Communist Party because of its ownership by bite dance yet we know from internal recordings of employees that they have said everything is seen by China and we're talking about 177 million American users data their data being used to Target to surveil to manipulate our nation and it is very important that we take action uh the Energy and Commerce Committee of which I chair last week passed this bill with the unanimous vote 50 to zero which under underscores the belief among the members that it is very important that we take this targeted approach to address National Security concerns posed by Tik Tok and other apps that are controlled by Foreign adversaries yeah again when you've got unanimous uh bipartisan efforts here to address this issue it's it's something to take note of no doubt about it but Tik Tok is firing back and encouraging the user base to also send a message about this uh potential Bill the Instagram account Tik Tok creators released a statement so again we've got two apps now involved but they say act now to protect your freedom to create share a video expressing what Tik Tok means to you and how it's positively impacted your life and use the hashtag keep Tik Tock you can also encourage your audience to tell Congress to vote no on The Tick Tock ban bill uh and congresswoman some of those opposing this legislation worry it could be an infringement of free speech again it's a way for a lot of folks to get their message out online or perhaps promote a small business what's your response to that first amendment concern this bill is is a very targeted approach based upon National Security concerns it does it does nothing to address content on the platform this is this is in response to National Security concerns raised by these apps being controlled by Foreign adversaries in this instant in the instance of Tik Tok they would have a choice to make they could either remain under the ownership of B Dan controlled by the CCP or they would be forced to divest they they would have to sell Tik Tok and it could be bought by someone else in the United States it could be it could go public they would have a choice to make the choice is theirs uh but uh that's where it would lie right now is the choice is up to them all right I wanted to play this for you last year the CEO of Tik Tock shiau went before lawmakers on Capitol Hill saying this there was no evidence that the company was spying on Americans we have that here's that moment I ask you again Mr Chu has fight Dan spied on American citizens I don't think that spying is the right way to describe it the Chinese government has that data what H how can you promise that uh that that will move into uh into the United States of America and be protected here K I have seen no evidence that the Chinese government has access to that data they have never asked us we have not provided well you know what asked that I find that actually Preposterous do you care to comment there congresswoman again there are those from from bite dance from those companies in China uh or those that may be representative of those CCP ideas that say there is no evidence and that this is harmless is there truth to that we have evidence that Tik Tok has spied on American journalists through its parent company bite dance and those cases are before the justice department now we know that they are collecting data for purposes of targeting surveilling manipulating 177 million users even the example last week uh where they blocked access to the app until you called your member of Congress to to say that you opposed it they could not get on the app the users could not that is them using this data to manipulate for their own purposes and there's other examples that we have we have many examples where they are using this data and in the in the time of AI uh data is what drives uh uh power and control and that is how the Chinese Communist Party operates they they we know that they use data to surveil and control their their own citizens and we cannot trust the Chinese Communist party to uphold our American values of Freedom or to protect our user data uh when it's when it's ultimately controlled by the Chinese Communist party and congresswoman as you know tens of millions of Americans already have this app downloaded on their phone so realistically speaking you know do you have an American businessman or businesswoman in mind who's going to make this purchase and then what would happen to those Tik Tok users if the sale doesn't go through well again it is it's a choice for Tik Tok Tik Tok has to make the choice here uh what the legislation calls for is 180 days in which Tik Tok would have to make a decision as to whether or not to remain uh under bite dance and and control by the Chinese Communist party or uh the the bill would force the sale they would have to divest and and that would be up for up for grabs uh in the next 6 months okay but if they don't sell what happens if they don't sell then they will no longer be accessible in the United States of America so they you would not be able to download Tik Tok via VIA uh Apple or Google uh they would they would not be accessible in the United States of America as long as they are owned by bite dance and controlled by the Chinese Communist party that is the bill lists foreign adversaries as China Russia Iran and North Korea and what we're Target is a very targeted approach to addressing apps that are controlled by by these foreign adversaries we appreciate the time and again breaking this down chairwoman of the house Energy and Commerce Committee and congresswoman Kathy mcores Rogers thank you so much we appreciate that good to be with you thank you thank you