Portman, Rubio See Security Threat, Don’t Favor Forced TikTok Sale

President Donald Trump signed executive orders Thursday banning U.S. transactions with the parent companies of Chinese apps TikTok and WeChat, citing them as national security threats. The president recently threatened to put TikTok out of business if the company wasn’t sold to an American entity by September (see 2008040027). Microsoft has been in discussions with the president and TikTok about a deal (see 2008030027). The ban would take effect in 45 days.

“I don’t think government has a role to pick who the buyer is other than they meet” certain criteria on national security, said Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla. TikTok has two choices, he argued: Shut down or sell to a company that isn’t going to turn over American data to the Chinese government. “Whoever that buyer is, if it’s someone we have confidence that they are prepared and able to do that, fine by me. I’m not pushing for any particular buyer. Obviously a company of that size, you’d probably have a small number of people who could buy them.”

Senate Investigations Subcommittee Chairman Rob Portman, R-Ohio, said he doesn't support a “forced sale,” but the free market is offering a potential solution to a national security threat. “Under the current ownership, I think there are potential problems, both in terms of censorship and in terms of use of information,” he said. “We want to see some guarantees that that would not happen if they were going to continue under Chinese ownership.” If Microsoft wants to buy the company, “I think that might be good for everybody.”

Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Burr, R-N.C., told us he supports “whatever the administration decides to do.” TikTok’s data practices are a “concern,” he said. Ranking member Mark Warner, D-Va., agreed the app is a concern, saying the administration needs an overarching strategy against Chinese threats.

Huawei is a “much greater threat,” given its potential role in telecom components, Warner said: “I worry that we need a real strategy out of this White House about Chinese tech, and if we go out and kind of equate all of these threats on an equal basis, I think we’re going to lose credibility.” Warner has more confidence in Microsoft than in TikTok, but the company would still have to provide guarantees. He lambasted Trump’s “brash” comments that “somehow he’s going to broker this and the U.S. Treasury is going to get some money. That’s absurd.”

“Any company involved in information technology that’s owned by the Chinese government has got to report the data they collect” to it, said Senate Homeland Security Committee Chairman Ron Johnson, R-Wis. He trusts the intelligence community’s assessment that TikTok is a security threat. Asked if he supports a forced sale, Johnson said it will be “interesting to see” how talks turn out with Microsoft.

“I don’t think he’s telling them to sell,” Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., said of the president. “But this is a situation where the private sector is providing a solution, and I trust Microsoft a lot more than I trust the Communist Party of China. That goes without saying.” TikTok is a clear security threat, he said.

China, TikTok Respond

TikTok says that it doesn't operate in China and so isn't subject to that country's data laws. A point person for the company in Washington recently discussed the matter on a Technology Policy Institute podcast.

Michael Beckerman, head-U.S. public policy, suggested to TPI that other tech platforms and not his could be more vulnerable to infiltration. "You can lose sight of the big picture and lose sight of the real threats" in focusing on the platform, he said before the Microsoft talks came to light. Don't get "caught up in an entertainment app," he recommended. The company has learned lessons from others' past mistakes and has spoken with more people on Capitol Hill recently than perhaps any other entity, said Beckerman.

China’s foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin denounced the administration’s actions Friday. The official accused it of using “state power to arbitrarily oppress non-U.S. companies under the pretext of national security. This is a blatant act of bullying that will boomerang on it.”

TikTok said it was “shocked” by the EO, which it said was issued “without any due process.” The company said it tried to negotiate with the U.S. government for about a year to address U.S. concerns. “What we encountered instead was that the Administration paid no attention to facts, dictated terms of an agreement without going through standard legal processes, and tried to insert itself into negotiations between private businesses,” it said. TikTok also said it has never shared user data with the Chinese government. “We will pursue all remedies available to us in order to ensure that the rule of law is not discarded and that our company and our users are treated fairly -- if not by the Administration, then by the US courts,” the company said.

WeChat parent Tencent is “reviewing the executive order to get a full understanding,” emailed a spokesperson.

Some Doubters

Some in Washington have concerns about the U.S. crackdown on a single app.

The EO would effectively require TikTok and WeChat to shut down or sell to new owners within 45 days, the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation said. The administration is creating a double standard, said ITIF Vice President Daniel Castro, arguing there’s no security justification for banning apps because they’re Chinese: “American tech companies stand to lose significant global market share if other countries follow a similar standard and block U.S. tech companies from their markets because of concerns about U.S. government surveillance.” ITIF agreed the U.S. should take action against China’s “unfair trade practices,” but the orders undermine open internet goals and could lead to a fragmented internet.

“Selectively banning entire platforms harms freedom of speech online and does nothing to resolve the broader problem of unjustified government surveillance, including by our own government,” said American Civil Liberties Union National Security Project Director Hina Shamsi. She suggested Congress ensure companies servicing U.S. consumers “only hand over data to a foreign government if there is a warrant or its equivalent.”

A targeted policy approach would be a better response to potential national security risks from Chinese companies, said American Action Forum Technology and Innovation Policy Director Jennifer Huddleston. That would balance the security risks while allowing competition in the tech sector, she wrote.

Still, many legislators were supportive of the White House strategy.

House Homeland Security Committee ranking member Mike Rogers, R-Ala., applauded the EOs, saying parent companies ByteDance and Tencent displayed “clear signs of manipulation” in favor of China’s propaganda agenda: “Businesses should be on notice: There is no such thing as a pure business partnership with the CCP or its corporate proxies.” He urged businesses that value access to American markets to think twice about relationships with the Chinese Communist Party.

The “spread” of mobile apps developed and owned by companies in China “continues to threaten the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States,” Trump wrote House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Senate President Pro-Tempore Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, Thursday in letters addressing the alleged WeChat and TikTok threats. Both automatically capture “vast swaths of information from its users,” giving the “Chinese Communist Party access to Americans’ personal and proprietary information,” said Trump.