Republican Texas Rep. Ronny Jackson and a group of House GOP members introduced legislation Friday that would ban lawmakers from maintaining official TikTok accounts.
The Daily Caller first obtained a copy of the legislation, which is titled the “Government Off TikTok Act’” or the “GOT Act.” The bill would specifically ban all elected officials, officers, and federal employees from maintaining TikTok accounts to post about official government business. Normally, the House has to authorize the creation of these official accounts. Jackson’s bill would bar official government accounts from existing by preventing the House from authorizing their creation.
Lawmakers would be free to have a personal account but the government would be prevented from authorizing the accounts if the bill is passed.
While members and staff are not allowed to download TikTok on government-issued devices, elected officials such as New York Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Massachusetts Rep. Ayanna Pressley continue to use their personal devices to post TikTok content on official government accounts.
“We know that when you download TikTok, you willingly open the door for the CCP to access your data without restriction. Not only should government officials be setting a good example for all Americans to help deter the use of the Chinese-owned platform, but they should understand the major national security risk associated with using the application. The evidence is clear, TikTok is a major national security risk with numerous privacy issues associated, not to mention the negative social impacts occurring especially to our children,” Jackson told the Caller before introducing the legislation. (RELATED: TikTok’s CCP-Linked Parent Company Is Trying To Break Into A Whole New Industry)
READ THE LEGISLATION HERE:
(DAILY CALLER OBTAINED) — … by Henry Rodgers
“I am fully dedicated to confronting the threat posed by the CCP in every possible manner, and cutting off Chinese access to our data, especially for Government officials, is a top priority,” he added. (RELATED: TikTok Acknowledges Certain US Data Stored In China, Defends Earlier Claims)
The bill has three cosponsors, Texas Rep. Brian Babin, South Carolina Rep. Ralph Norman and Oklahoma Rep. Josh Brecheen.
TikTok is owned by Chinese company ByteDance. A former employee testified that a handful of CCP officials had access to American users’ data from the app. Head of U.S. Cyber Command Gen. Paul Nakasone told Congress that he was concerned about the app’s potential as a national security threat.