Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL), Acting Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, formally introduced a new bill Thursday (Oct. 29) that seeks to establish a new framework for regulating the operation of all foreign high-risk applications in the United States, including those of China, through legislative measures.
The new bill, called the “Adversarial Platform Prevention Act” (APP Act), defines “high-risk foreign software” as any software owned by an entity that is financed by or established under the laws of China, Russia, Venezuela, Cuba, or any other entity designated as a terrorist organization, etc. The APP Act also defines “high-risk foreign software” as any software that is owned by or established under the laws of China, Russia, Venezuela, Cuba, or any other entity designated as a terrorist organization, etc.
At the same time, software that is owned by an entity that has its principal place of business or headquarters in China, Russia, Venezuela, Cuba, or a terrorist organization, or that would store U.S. consumer data in those countries, would fall within the scope of the bill’s definition of “high-risk foreign software.
Rubio, who has advocated a strict stance on Chinese social media software such as TikTok and WeChat, has consistently called on policymakers to take a broader approach to protecting U.S. consumers’ data and national security.
In a written statement, Rubio again singled out the Chinese apps in particular. He said, “High-risk foreign apps, such as China’s TikTok and WeChat, pose a threat to U.S. privacy and national security.”
“It’s clear that we have to establish a framework of standards that those high-risk foreign apps must meet before they are allowed to operate on U.S. telecommunications networks and devices. This ‘APP Act’ does exactly that.”
The 18-page “APP Act” would require warning labels on high-risk foreign software to inform consumers of potential data and security risks; require high-risk foreign software companies to publicly disclose consumer data and other relevant details to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the U.S. Department of Justice on an annual basis; promote the localization of U.S. consumer data; and exclude high-risk foreign software from the exemptions in Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act.
At the same time, the bill would also require high-risk foreign software companies to notify the FTC and DOJ immediately when they receive requests from other governments or entities to provide data on U.S. persons and to review the content of U.S. persons’ browsing.
With the increasing development of online information, social media and various online platforms replacing traditional information flows, there is an active bipartisan effort in the U.S. Congress to update the relevant regulations, hoping to close the gap in the lack of supporting legal measures for information communication in the virtual world.
In late August of this year, Senator Marco Rubio of Florida made a pitch that he was working on a new “framework of standards” to comprehensively regulate how high-risk foreign applications operate in the U.S., in order to protect U.S. user data and national security.
Senator Rubio’s pitch at the time specifically stated that “TikTok will certainly not be the last app that poses a threat to the United States at the behest of China or other foreign competitors, as President Trump’s actions against WeChat make abundantly clear.
“In any case, important problems with TikTok’s handling of user data remain. In order to address these issues and avoid a game of whack-a-mole every time a new app emerges, policymakers should take broader steps to protect data and our national security,” Rubio said in his pitch.
The U.S. Commerce Department had ordered WeChat to be removed from U.S. app stores as of Sept. 20 on national security grounds and banned other WeChat transactions in the United States. The government’s ban is being challenged legally by WeChat users. On the eve of the ban taking effect, Federal Judge Biller in San Francisco ruled to stay the Commerce Department’s injunction, which allows users in the U.S. to continue using the app.
The Department of Justice has initiated an appeal process, and has presented new evidence asking Judge Beeler to withdraw her temporary ruling, which Judge Beeler denied last Friday (October 23).
Next, a federal appeals court this past Monday (October 26) refused to accept the DOJ’s request to immediately bar the Apple and Google app stores from offering WeChat downloads overseas while the appeal is pending.
The Trump administration argues that WeChat and TikTok are controlled by China’s Communist government, violate Americans’ privacy, and threaten U.S. national security. But users who have filed legal challenges say the government’s ban violates their freedom of speech.
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