Republican lawmakers have yelped about banning TikTok nationally over supposed national security threats for years now but the increasingly prescient policy issue finally gained bipartisan political support this year with the introduction of the RESTRICT Act by Sens. Mark Warner, a Democrat, and John Thune. The proposed legislation would give the Secretary of Commerce the ability to ban digital products or services from China, Iran, Cuba, North Korea, Russia, and Venezuela that involved “information and communication technology.” Though the RESTRICT Act isn’t specifically limited to TikTok, most agree the Chinese-made app is its primary target.
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Opponents of the RESTRICT Act, like the American Civil Liberties Union, say it would give the executive branch broad authority to ban large platforms where millions of people gather to communicate. This, they say, could pose profound violations to Americans’ right to free speech and access to information.
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