United States of America: Introduced ANTI-SOCIAL CCP Act including TikTok ban (S 347/118. Congress)

On 9 February 2023, the "Averting the National Threat of Internet Surveillance, Oppressive Censorship and Influence, and Algorithmic Learning by the Chinese Communist Party Act" (ANTI-SOCIAL CCP Act (S 347)) was introduced in the Senate. The S 347 reintroduces the provisions outlined in the S 5245 from the 117th Congress. The Act would require the President to exercise his powers to block and prohibit commercial operations in the US of certain social media companies which are based in, controlled, or substantially influenced by certain countries of concern, including China, Russia, and Iran. Specifically, the Act would designate Bytedance, TikTok, and any of their subsidiaries as covered social media companies to limit the sensitive data that could be transferred abroad for processing.