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Lawmaker eyes ban on 'foreign adversary' apps like TikTok

In this file photo taken on April 13, 2020, the social media application logo, TikTok is displayed on the screen of an iPhone, in Arlington, Virginia. TikTok CEO Kevin Mayer said on August 26, 2020 he has quit the company as tensions soar between Washington and Beijing over the Chinese-owned video platform. Mayer's resignation comes days after TikTok filed a lawsuit challenging a crackdown by the US government over claims the wildly popular social media app can be used to spy on Americans.  Olivier Douliery, AFP

Article (news)

Vivienne Gulla

ABS-CBN News

<p>MANILA - A Congressman has filed a bill seeking to ban apps like TikTok which he said were controlled by “foreign adversaries” amid ongoing tensions with China in the West Philippine Sea. </p><p>Manila 6th District Representative Bienvenido Abante Jr filed House Bill 10489 saying there is concern that TikTok and its parent company, ByteDance, may have put sensitive user data, like location information, into the hands of the Chinese government. </p><p>Abante said the Chinese government can secretly demand data from Chinese companies and citizens for intelligence-gathering operations. </p><p>&quot;China could therefore use TikTok’s content recommendations to fuel misinformation,” the lawmaker said in his explanatory note.</p><p>According to Abante, his bill &quot;will authorize the President to determine any foreign country to be adversarial or is a threat to our national security, and thereafter prohibit any foreign adversary-controlled applications from operating in the country.”</p><p>The bill includes websites, desktop applications, mobile apps, and others &quot;which are operated, directly or indirectly (including through a parent company, subsidiary, or affiliate), by a company that is controlled by a foreign adversary.&quot;</p><p>&quot;With the rising tension between China and the Philippines, the government must take positive preemptive action to ensure that we protect our citizens from manipulation and misinformation campaigns using social media––from any foreign adversary country,&quot; Abante said in a statement.</p><div><strong>RELATED VIDEO</strong></div><div><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/mn2ODh7s53g?autoplay=1&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><br/></div><p>He added that the government must ensure that apps from foreign adversaries cannot harvest data from subscribers the country.</p><p>Last September, the National Security Council said the Philippines should “seriously consider” banning TikTok for security.</p><p>Several countries, including the United States and New Zealand, earlier banned TikTok on government-issued devices over fears that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) can use the social media app for spying or propaganda. The European Commission and Canada had also banned the use of TikTok in its devices, but the social media giant has repeatedly denied accusations that it shares data to the Chinese government.</p><div><strong>RELATED VIDEO</strong></div><div><strong><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/V3Wq0SZ_2WI?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span></strong><br/></div><p>Its parent company ByteDance, however, had admitted that its China-based employees had accessed Americans&#x27; data but rejected allegations that information was being turned over to authorities.</p><p>In January 2023, TikTok was the third most used social media app in the Philippines, according to a study from Meltwater.</p>

<p>A Congressman has filed a bill seeking to ban apps like TikTok which he said were controlled by “foreign adversaries” amid ongoing tensions with China in the West Philippine Sea.</p>

A Congressman has filed a bill seeking to ban apps like TikTok which he said were controlled by “foreign adversaries” amid ongoing tensions with China in the West Philippine Sea.

Lawmaker pushes ban on TikTok, other 'foreign adversary' apps amid China tensions

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Lawmaker pushes ban on TikTok, other 'foreign adversary' apps amid China tensions

Vivienne Gulla,

ABS-CBN News

Published May 24, 2024 11:41 AM PHT

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House of Representatives

Rep. Bienvenido Abante Jr.

foreign adversary

China

tiktok

TikTok ban

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