Yesterday, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA) filed an amicus brief in TikTok, et al. v. Garland alongside a bipartisan group of colleagues, led by Chairman John Moolenaar (R-MI) and Ranking Member Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL) of the House Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party. The brief defends the constitutionality of the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, which addresses the national security threat posed by Chinese ownership of TikTok, against TikTok's legal challenges that incorrectly claim the bill is unconstitutional. Chairman Moolenaar and Ranking Member Krishnamoorthi were joined by House Committee on Energy and Commerce Chair and Ranking Member Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) and Frank Pallone Jr. (D-NJ), Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), House Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanik (R-NY) and 50 of their colleagues across the aisle and both chambers of Congress.

In the brief, the lawmakers write, "the Divestiture Act [also known as the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act] does not regulate speech or require any social media company to stop operating in the United States. The Divestiture Act is instead focused entirely on the regulation of foreign adversary control and provides a clear path for affected companies to resolve the national security threats posed by their current ownership structures."

They continue, "Backed by extensive factfinding about the national security threat to the American people posed by certain foreign adversary controlled applications, the Divestiture Act resembles and, indeed, is narrower than numerous other restrictions on foreign ownership that Congress has enacted in other statutory regimes. And Congress did not transcend the limits imposed by the First Amendment and other constitutional restraints, because 'it is long settled as a matter of American constitutional law that foreign citizens outside U.S. territory do not possess rights under the U.S. Constitution.'"

Click HERE to read the amicus brief.

Background:
The Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, introduced in March, prevents app store availability or web hosting services in the U.S. for ByteDance-controlled applications, including TikTok, unless the application severs ties to entities like ByteDance that are subject to the control of a foreign adversary, as defined by Congress in Title 10.

In addition, the bill creates a process for the President to designate certain, specifically defined social media applications that are subject to the control of a foreign adversary—per Title 10—and pose a national security risk. Designated applications will face a prohibition on app store availability and web hosting services in the U.S. unless they sever ties to entities subject to the control of a foreign adversary through divestment.
 

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