The bipartisan bill is the latest move in the US against the company and is framed within the context of a trade war between Washington and Beijing.
The proposed legislation would “block and prohibit all transactions” in the US by social media companies with at least one million monthly users that are based in, or under the “substantial influence” of, countries that are considered foreign adversaries, including China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, Cuba and Venezuela.
The bill specifically names TikTok and its parent ByteDance as social media companies for the purposes of the legislation.
The bill was proposed by Senator Marco Rubio, the top Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee, Republican Congressman Mike Gallagher and Democrat Congresswoman Raja Krishnamoorthi. Last month, Gallagher had indicated their intention to introduce the bill in a Washington Post op-ed.
“The federal government has yet to take a single meaningful action to protect American...