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Speaker Johnson Says USA Will Enforce The Law Regarding TikTok Ban
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Speaker Johnson Says USA Will Enforce The Law Regarding TikTok Ban

House Speaker Mike Johnson didn’t mince words on Sunday when he declared that Congress is prepared to take decisive action against TikTok if the app isn’t fully divested from its ties to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). His remarks, made during an appearance on NBC’s Meet The Press, put the Biden administration’s leniency on China in stark contrast to the hardline stance being signaled by the incoming Trump administration and Republican lawmakers.

Johnson was responding to concerns raised by host Kristen Welker about whether President-elect Donald Trump’s recent comments about “saving TikTok” might send a message of weakness to Beijing. The Louisiana Republican dismissed the notion outright, explaining that Trump’s position is clear: TikTok can remain in the United States, but only if it is fully removed from Chinese control. “We will enforce the law,” Johnson said emphatically. “The way we read [Trump’s statement] is that he’s going to try to force along a true divestiture.”

Johnson’s focus wasn’t on the app itself, which has become wildly popular among younger Americans, but on the CCP’s influence over the platform. “It’s the Chinese Communist Party and their manipulation of the algorithms,” Johnson said, pulling no punches. “They’ve been flooding the minds of American children with terrible messages, glorifying violence and anti-Semitism and even suicide and eating disorders. And they’re mining the data of American citizens. It’s a very dangerous thing.”

The issue of TikTok’s ownership has been simmering for years. While the app’s parent company, ByteDance, claims its U.S. operations are independent of Beijing’s control, mounting evidence has raised serious questions about the platform’s ability to keep user data safe from CCP surveillance. Chinese law requires private companies to cooperate with the government on national security matters, making ByteDance’s assurances difficult to trust. Critics argue that allowing the app to continue operating in its current form amounts to handing China an unchecked propaganda and surveillance tool within U.S. borders.

“The Chinese Communist Party is not our friend,” Johnson said bluntly. His comments reflect growing bipartisan concern over China’s influence in U.S. society, though Democrats have been far less aggressive in pushing for tangible measures to counter the CCP. Johnson pointed out that companies like Google, Apple, and Microsoft have already complied with laws aimed at safeguarding user data and ensuring transparency, suggesting there is no excuse for TikTok to continue skirting similar accountability.

TikTok’s rise in popularity has been accompanied by growing scrutiny, not just from lawmakers but also from cybersecurity experts and parents worried about the app’s impact on American youth. Reports have linked TikTok’s algorithm to the promotion of harmful content, from challenges that glorify self-harm to the spread of extremist ideologies. And while some argue these issues are not unique to TikTok, its CCP ties elevate the stakes to a national security level.

The road ahead is likely to be contentious. A divestiture of TikTok would require ByteDance to sell off its U.S. operations to a company with no links to the CCP—something ByteDance has resisted. Trump’s first administration attempted to force such a sale in 2020, but legal challenges and a lack of enforcement by the Biden administration allowed the issue to languish. With Trump returning to the White House, Johnson believes the incoming president is uniquely positioned to close the deal. “I think President Trump is the one who can make that deal happen,” Johnson said, expressing optimism that the long-stalled effort to secure TikTok’s independence could finally gain momentum.

Written by Arthur Higgens - January 20, 2025