Washington, D.C. — The American Economic Liberties Project released this statement in support of the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, bipartisan legislation that would ban TikTok.

“TikTok’s connections to the Chinese government, ability to manipulate public opinion, and trove of U.S. user data present legitimate national security risks,” said Matt Stoller, Research Director at the American Economic Liberties Project. “It should be banned or forced to divest to an owner who does not represent a threat to American interests. Other dominant targeted advertising-fueled common carriers like Google and Facebook, the latter of which has a harmful track record of election interference despite domestic ownership, need regulation as the utilities that they are.”

“We encourage policymakers to not only ban TikTok from the U.S. market,” Stoller added, “but take additional steps to remove Section 230 protections on online behavioral advertising based on personalized data to ensure all platforms are safe for democracy.”

Learn more about Economic Liberties here.

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The American Economic Liberties Project works to ensure America’s system of commerce is structured to advance, rather than undermine, economic liberty, fair commerce, and a secure, inclusive democracy. Economic Liberties believes true economic liberty means entrepreneurs and businesses large and small succeed on the merits of their ideas and hard work; commerce empowers consumers, workers, farmers, and engineers instead of subjecting them to discrimination and abuse from financiers and monopolists; foreign trade arrangements support domestic security and democracy; and wealth is broadly distributed to support equitable political power.