Tallahassee Sun

Congressman Neal Dunn from Florida-02 has taken a stand in the battle to safeguard Americans' data from foreign adversaries by co-sponsoring the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act. The legislation aims to tackle immediate national security threats posed by apps like TikTok and establish a framework for the President to shield national security and privacy from foreign adversary-controlled applications in the future.

In a statement, Congressman Dunn highlighted the concerning findings regarding data sharing with adversaries through applications developed by ByteDance, stating, “I even asked the TikTok CEO point blank if ByteDance has spied on Americans on behalf of the CCP, and his response was ‘I don’t think spying is the right way to describe it.’ This is outrageous. I took an oath to protect the American people and I’m proud to join this effort to ban applications that can be utilized and abused by our adversaries.”

The Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act will push for the separation of TikTok from Chinese control and combat national security risks linked to other foreign adversary-controlled entities. Importantly, the bill is designed not to penalize individual social media users, stifle free speech, or impact applications that distance themselves from companies under foreign adversary control.

Congressman Dunn has been a vocal advocate for addressing the risks associated with TikTok and ByteDance, particularly in light of increasing awareness of the Chinese Communist Party's influence over the company. His efforts include questioning TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew during a House Energy & Commerce hearing last year.

The bill text can be accessed here.