WASHINGTON D.C. – U.S. Congressman Russ Fulcher released the following statement on the passage of H.R. 7521, the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications

“I voted to pass H.R. 7521 today to stop the Chinese Communist Party from manipulating, surveilling, and targeting American citizens.

Apps such as TikTok give the Chinese Communist Party the ability to engage in psychological warfare against the American people. Due to the algorithms at play, the CCP can feed users whatever information they please, truthful or not.

Just last week, the Chinese Communist Party used TikTok as a propaganda tool to spread misinformation falsely claiming Congress is voting to ban the app, telling users to input their zip codes to ‘take action’ and call their representatives. Not only does that intimidate users into handing over even more of their data, but it manipulates reality for many Americans.

H.R. 7521 does not ban TikTok. It averts national security threats by blocking foreign adversaries from accessing American data.

The ball is in their court. It is essential apps such as TikTok sever ties with the Chinese Communist Party to protect American data.”