[Senate Report 117-256]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
Calendar No. 642
117th Congress } { Report
SENATE
2d Session } { 117-256
_______________________________________________________________________
NO TIKTOK ON GOVERNMENT DEVICES ACT
__________
R E P O R T
of the
COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY AND
GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS
UNITED STATES SENATE
to accompany
S. 1143
TO PROHIBIT CERTAIN INDIVIDUALS FROM
DOWNLOADING OR USING TIKTOK ON ANY DEVICE
ISSUED BY THE UNITED STATES OR A GOVERNMENT CORPORATION
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
December 14, 2022.--Ordered to be printed
_________
U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
39-010 WASHINGTON : 2023
COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY AND GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS
GARY C. PETERS, Michigan, Chairman
THOMAS R. CARPER, Delaware ROB PORTMAN, Ohio
MAGGIE HASSAN, New Hampshire RON JOHNSON, Wisconsin
KYRSTEN SINEMA, Arizona RAND PAUL, Kentucky
JACKY ROSEN, Nevada JAMES LANKFORD, Oklahoma
ALEX PADILLA, California MITT ROMNEY, Utah
JON OSSOFF, Georgia RICK SCOTT, Florida
JOSH HAWLEY, Missouri
David M. Weinberg, Staff Director
Zachary I. Schram, Chief Counsel
Christopher J. Mulkins, Director of Homeland Security
Jeffrey D. Rothblum, Senior Professional Staff Member
Pamela Thiessen, Minority Staff Director
Sam J. Mulopulos, Minority Deputy Staff Director
William H.W. McKenna, Minority Chief Counsel
Laura W. Kilbride, Chief Clerk
Calendar No. 642
117th Congress } { Report
SENATE
2d Session } { 117-256
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NO TIKTOK ON GOVERNMENT DEVICES ACT
_______
December 14, 2022.--Ordered to be printed
_______
Mr. Peters, from the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental
Affairs, submitted the following
R E P O R T
[To accompany S. 1143]
The Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental
Affairs, to which was referred the bill (S. 1143) to prohibit
certain individuals from downloading or using TikTok on any
device issued by the United States or a government corporation,
having considered the same, reports favorably thereon without
amendment and recommends that the bill do pass.
CONTENTS
Page
I. Purpose and Summary.............................................. 1
II. Background and Need for the Legislation.......................... 2
III. Legislative History.............................................. 3
IV. Section-by-Section Analysis of the Bill, as Reported............. 3
V. Evaluation of Regulatory Impact.................................. 3
VI. Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill, as Reported............ 4
I. PURPOSE AND SUMMARY
S. 1143, the No TikTok on Government Devices Act, requires
the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to
develop standards and guidelines, consistent with the Federal
Information Security Modernization Act (FISMA) of 2014, to
remove the TikTok application from Federal information
technology devices and platforms. The OMB standards and
guidelines must be developed in consultation with the General
Services Administration (GSA), the Cybersecurity and
Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), the Office of the
Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), and the Department of
Defense (DoD). The bill includes an exemption for law
enforcement activities, national security interests and
activities, and security researchers.\1\
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\1\On July 22, 2020, the Committee approved S. 3455, the No TikTok
on Government Devices Act, which is substantially similar to S. 1143.
Accordingly, this committee report is in many respects similar to the
committee report for S. 3455, S. Rept. No. 116-250.
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II. BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR THE LEGISLATION
Beijing-based media and technology company, ByteDance
Limited (ByteDance) owns the social media short-form video app,
TikTok, managed by its subsidiary TikTok, Inc.\2\ While TikTok
has grown in its global popularity, China's national
intelligence and security laws raise serious concerns over the
obligations of Chinese-owned technology companies to
participate in intelligence gathering operations and share data
with government officials.\3\ The requirements mandated by
China's National Intelligence Law allow for the potential that
Chinese government officials could use TikTok to violate the
civil rights and privacy of users in the United States, or
otherwise gather data that may have national security
implications.\4\ On this basis, in November 2019, the Committee
on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) began a
review of ByteDance's acquisition of the social media service
TikTok.\5\
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\2\Social-Media App Musical.ly Is Acquired for as Much as $1
Billion, Wall Street Journal (Nov. 9, 2017) (https://www.wsj.com/
articles/lip-syncing-app-musical-ly-is-acquired-for-as-much-as-1-
billion-1510278123) and Inside the Rise of TikTok, the Viral Video-
Sharing App that Trump is Trying to Order its Chinese Parent to Sell,
Business Insider (Aug. 7, 2020) (https://www.businessinsider.com/
tiktok-app-online-website-video-sharing-2019-7).
\3\TikTok Said to Be Under National Security Review, New York Times
(Nov. 1, 2019) (https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/01/technology/tiktok-
national-security-review.html).
\4\See, e.g. Senate Subcommittee on Crime and Terrorism, Testimony
Submitted for the Record of Samm Sacks, Senior Fellow, Yale Law School
Paul Tsai China Center, Dangerous Partners: Big Tech and Beijing, 116th
Cong., at (Mar. 3, 2020) (https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/meetings/
dangerous-partners-big-tech-and-beijing).
\5\U.S. Government Investigating TikTok Over National Security
Concerns, Washington Post (Nov. 1, 2019) (https://
www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2019/11/01/us-government-
investigating-tiktok-over-national-security-concerns/).
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In order to address the national security concerns raised
by TikTok, both the Trump and Biden administrations have taken
actions to examine any potential threats posed by the
application's presence on mobile devices operating in the
United States. On August 6, 2020, President Trump signed an
executive order that would have banned TikTok transactions in
45 days if ByteDance did not sell the company.\6\ President
Trump also issued an order on August 14, 2020, which gave
ByteDance 90 days to sell or spin off its U.S. TikTok
business.\7\ TikTok filed a lawsuit on September 18, 2020, and
a U.S. District Court Judge temporarily blocked the order that
would have prevented the application from being downloaded on
U.S. app stores.\8\ Three TikTok users also filed a lawsuit
that prevented the Department of Commerce's (DoC) initial ban
on downloading or updating the TikTok app.\9\ In June 9, 2021,
President Biden signed an executive order that revoked the
Trump Administration's ban on TikTok, and instead asked the
Secretary of Commerce to investigate the app to determine if it
poses a threat to national security.\10\ CFIUS continues to
have concerns and the DoC is actively considering new rules to
address potential data security risks at TikTok.\11\
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\6\Exec. Order No. 13942, 85 Fed. Reg. 51297 (Aug. 14, 2020).
\7\Presidential Proclamation No. 10061, 85 Fed. Reg. 51297 (Aug.
14, 2020).
\8\U.S. Judge Halts Trump's TikTok Ban, Hours Before It Was Set To
Start, NPR (Sept. 27, 2020) (https://www.npr.org/2020/09/27/917452668/
u-s-judge-halts-trumps-tiktok-ban-hours-before-it-was-set-to-start).
\9\TikTok Stars Proved Key in Strategy to Fight U.S. Ban, Wall
Street Journal (Nov. 26, 2020) (https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-three-
tiktok-stars-beat-back-u-s-plans-to-ban-the-app-11606418513).
\10\Exec. Order No. 14034, 86 Fed. Reg. 31423 (June 9, 2020).
\11\Exclusive TikTok nears Oracle deal in bid to allay U.S. data
concerns--sources, Reuters (March 10, 2022) (https://www.reuters.com/
technology/exclusive-tiktok-nears-deal-with-oracle-store-its-data-
sources-2022-03-10/).
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Several Federal agencies, including DoD, the State
Department, and the Department of Homeland Security, have
banned TikTok on devices those agencies are responsible for,
but these decisions have been made by individual agencies and
do not apply to the Federal Government as a whole.\12\ Under
FISMA, OMB is responsible for developing and overseeing Federal
cybersecurity policies, and as such, it has the power to
produce standards and guidance for the removal of TikTok across
the Federal enterprise.\13\ This bill requires the Director of
OMB, in consultation with key agency stakeholders, to develop
standards and guidelines requiring the removal of TikTok and
any successor applications developed or provided by ByteDance
or any ByteDance subsidiary.
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\12\TSA Bans Employee Use of TikTok for the Agency's Outreach Amid
National Security Concerns, CNN.com (Feb. 25, 2020) (https://
www.cnn.com/2020/02/25/politics/tsa-tiktok-national-security/
index.html).
\13\44 U.S.C. Sec. 3553.
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III. LEGISLATIVE HISTORY
Senator Hawley (R-MO) introduced S. 1143, the No TikTok on
Government Devices Act, on April 15, 2021, with Senators Cotton
(R-AK), Scott (R-FL), and Rubio (R-FL). The bill was referred
to the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental
Affairs. The Committee considered S. 1143 at a business meeting
on May 12, 2021. The Committee ordered the bill reported
favorably en bloc by voice vote. Senators present for the vote
on the bill were: Peters, Carper, Hassan, Sinema, Rosen,
Padilla, Ossoff, Portman, Johnson, Paul, Lankford, Romney,
Scott, and Hawley.
IV. SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS OF THE BILL, AS REPORTED
Section 1. Short title
This section establishes that the bill may be referred to
as the ``No TikTok on Government Devices Act''.
Section 2. Prohibition of the use of TikTok
Subsection (a) defines the terms ``covered application'',
``executive agency'', and ``information technology.''
Subsection (b) requires the Director of OMB, in
consultation with the Administrator of GSA, the Director of
CISA, the Director of National Intelligence, and the Secretary
of Defense, and consistent with the information security
requirements of FISMA, to develop standards and guidelines for
the removal of covered applications from information
technology.
This subsection also directs OMB to include in its
standards and guidelines exemptions for law enforcement
activities, national security interests, and security
researchers.
V. EVALUATION OF REGULATORY IMPACT
Pursuant to the requirements of paragraph 11(b) of rule
XXVI of the Standing Rules of the Senate, the Committee has
considered the regulatory impact of this bill and determined
that the bill will have no regulatory impact within the meaning
of the rules. The Committee agrees with the Congressional
Budget Office's statement that the bill contains no
intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in the
Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA) and would impose no costs
on state, local, or tribal governments.
VI. CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW MADE BY THE BILL, AS REPORTED
This legislation would make no change in existing law,
within the meaning of clauses (a) and (b) of subparagraph 12 of
rule XXVI of the Standing Rules of the Senate, because this
legislation would not repeal or amend any provision of current
law.
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