Last week, the Arkansas congressional delegation voted in support of a bill that passed the House that would force Tik Tok, a Chinese company, to sell to an American company, according to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

In a press release, U.S Rep. French Hill, R-Little Rock, said he voted for the bill because of concerns he has related to how the data collected from the app is being handled.

“There is no separation between national security and the state when it comes to the CCP. TikTok is using CCP dominated technology that is being leveraged to gather massive amounts of data on American citizens, posing a major national security risk. We must protect Americans from the growing threat of the CCP by requiring the sale of TikTok to an American company. Whether TikTok remains on the phones of Americans or not is now up to TikTok’s owner, Chinese headquartered ByteDance,” Hill said.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Rep. French Hill (AR-02) released the following statement after the House passed H.R. 7521, the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, which would protect central Arkansans and Americans from national security risks posed by applications owned by our foreign adversaries.

“This is not about targeting TikTok – my vote today was about protecting central Arkansans and Americans from surveillance and manipulation by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). There is no separation between national security and the state when it comes to the CCP. TikTok is using CCP dominated technology that is being leveraged to gather massive amounts of data on American citizens, posing a major national security risk. We must protect Americans from the growing threat of the CCP by requiring the sale of TikTok to an American company. Whether TikTok remains on the phones of Americans or not is now up to TikTok’s owner, Chinese headquartered ByteDance.”

Further Background:

H.R. 7521 - Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act: This bill prohibits applications controlled by foreign adversaries of the United States from being distributed, maintained or updated by online app stores and allows the President to require divestment of an application’s foreign adversary-controlled company ownership or face prohibition on app stores and access to web hosting services in the United States.

For more details on this bill, please visit HERE.

Washington — Today, Congressman Rick Crawford (AR-01) released the following statement after voting in favor of H.R. 7521, the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act.

“The extent to which the Chinese government and the Chinese Community Party (CCP) will go to expand its malign influence within the United States is a grave threat that I’m tracking closely as chairman of the Intel Committee’s CIA Subcommittee.

“From storing Americans’ biometrics when they use TikTok filters, to accessing financial data and location information, and more, the amount of personal data the CCP has on Americans is alarming, and it is a national security threat. What’s more, allowing a Chinese owned app to maliciously operate within our borders is a gateway for foreign espionage and malicious impacts that can be weaponized at a moment’s notice.

“It is the duty of Congress to ensure that Americans are protected by the appropriate regulatory laws against foreign adversaries, like the CCP. Americans go to great lengths to protect themselves from identity theft and to protect their personal information. By ensuring that TikTok cannot be owned by any company affiliated with the CCP, H.R. 7521 will protect the sensitive data and facial biometrics that the CCP is currently collecting.”

Arkansas congressional delegation approve of bill that would force sale of Tik Tok

Chairman of CIA Subcommittee, Rep. Crawford, comments on passage of TikTok Bill