During an interview on Wednesday, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) shared that the current bill in Congress, looking to force the sale of or otherwise ban the social media platform TikTok, would benefit users.
The comments from the senator came while he was speaking with Fox News’s Brett Baier, saying that the bill is focused on blocking the Chinese Communist Party from having any connection to the app, being that its parent company is the Chinese-based ByteDance.
Cruz says that the legislation is only meant to be in the best interest of Americans so it can benefit their experience on the platform.
“For the people who use TikTok and enjoy it: This is not about getting rid of that,” Cruz said. “What it is about is forcing China to divest, getting TikTok out of control of the Chinese Communist Party, getting it in the hands of an American company, getting it in the hands of anyone other than China or an enemy of America.”
He went on to say the bill is “very important” and would “benefit the users of TikTok and everyone else, too.”
Cruz shared more of his concerns about China’s connection to the app, saying that “the threat it poses of espionage and surveillance of the Chinese Communist Party monitoring” the millions of Americans who use it.
“They have the ability to monitor what they’re saying, what they’re doing on their phones, where they are. I think it’s a real privacy risk to Americans, who may not realize that the Chinese government has that ability,” Cruz said.
Propaganda is also a major concern for Cruz, who claimed that China’s influence on the platform could be seen by “suppressing information about Tiananmen Square, about Hong Kong, about Tibet.”
Lastly, he talked about the threat the platform has on younger Americans, who may not be aware they are consuming propaganda or harmful content until it’s too late.
“They’re pushing all sorts of harmful garbage to our kids. Self-harm, cutting,” Cruz said, adding, “Here, they’re pushing our kids to chew tide pods.”
The Protecting Americans From Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act has yet to be voted on in the Senate, though the House passed the measure by a vote of 352-65.
Cruz said he is hopeful the Commerce Committee will consider the bill in a markup and hopefully open the amendment process, which would lead to a potential vote.
“I’m not convinced the language the House passed is exactly what it will be in law, but I’m glad the House is acting to address this very serious threat,” he said.