Today, Congresswoman Lizzie Fletcher (TX-07) voted for the bipartisan Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, H.R. 7521.  This bill requires any application operating in the U.S. that is found to be controlled by a foreign adversary, including TikTok, to be divested from that foreign adversary within six months of the bill’s enactment.

“Our government has a long history of limiting foreign ownership of entities operating in the United States to protect our national security,” said Congresswoman Lizzie Fletcher.  “The bipartisan Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act follows that precedent, addressing the immediate national security risks posed by foreign adversary-controlled apps, including TikTok, and establishing a framework to protect Americans from foreign adversary-controlled apps going forward.  This framework requires apps operated by a company controlled by a foreign adversary to be divested from foreign adversary control.

“Apps collect tremendous amounts of sensitive data on their users, including name, age, phone number and email address, IP address, physical location, other personal data, and potentially much more,” continued Congresswoman Fletcher.  “Congress has been working on legislation to protect the data privacy of all Americans from all apps, regardless of ownership, and that must continue to be a top priority of this Congress.”

Last week, H.R. 7521 passed out of the Energy & Commerce Committee unanimously.