On Thursday, a U.S. House committee agreed to release the transcript of a March closed-door session that examined the security risks TikTok presents to the Justice Department’s efforts to enforce a new law. This law mandates that TikTok’s Chinese parent company, ByteDance, sell off its U.S. operations.
In response to a law signed by President Joe Biden in April—which threatens to ban TikTok by January 19, 2025, unless ByteDance divests—ByteDance, TikTok, and several TikTok users have initiated legal actions seeking to halt the law. This law could affect TikTok’s 170 million American users.
“The transcript from the classified hearing in March was requested by the Justice Department to support their case in court,” stated Representative Cathy McMorris Rodgers, chair of the Energy and Commerce Committee. She mentioned that during the hearing, intelligence officials detailed the threats from apps like TikTok, which are under foreign control and potentially used to misuse American data.
Despite the committee’s decision, a spokesperson confirmed there are no plans to make the transcript public. The Justice Department has opted not to comment on the matter.
Representative Rodgers highlighted that since the enactment of the legislation, China has consistently demonstrated its unwillingness to relinquish control over apps such as TikTok, which she believes are being used detrimentally against Americans.
TikTok has chosen not to comment on these developments, although it has previously criticized the legislative process as secretive and expedited, suggesting this was necessary for the bill’s proponents to advance their agenda.
A U.S. court is scheduled to hear oral arguments concerning the legal challenges to the law on September 16, with the Justice Department expected to present its response by July 26.
At the March hearing, the Justice Department indicated that forcing ByteDance to divest from TikTok would bolster their legal stance, as revealed in a document reported by Reuters. This briefing also included an unclassified page indicating that TikTok represents significant national security concerns due to its extensive data collection practices and Chinese ownership, which poses risks to American users by potentially allowing China to access vast amounts of U.S. data and control software on numerous devices.
