Exclusive–Trump Jr. Calls for ‘Hardcore’ Anti-China Rules for All Social Platforms

Donald Trump Jr. on Tuesday called for anti-China regulations for all social platforms to ensure that Americans’ private data does not end up in the hands of the Chinese government.

Trump Jr. said in an exclusive statement to Breitbart News that any solution seeking to address privacy concerns surrounding TikTok should also “address national security issues with all of these social media companies who let their data flow through China.”

“Data security and privacy laws in the U.S. aren’t cutting it right now,” Trump Jr. continued. “I’m all for addressing those issues with TikTok, but we’ve also got to look at some of these other companies who are very happy to let TikTok be the punching bag to keep themselves out of the line of fire. So members of Congress need to broaden the way they’re looking at this stuff if we’re going to really solve the problem.”

“While we’re going hardcore on TikTok regulations, how about NO American data flowing through China for ANY social media company?! No letting Facebook, IG, Twitter or anyone else off the hook for data security and privacy in whatever ends up happening,” Trump Jr. wrote.

Trump Jr.’s comments follow as the House Foreign Affairs Committee advanced a bill, sponsored by committee chairman Michael McCaul (R-TX), that would allow President Joe Biden to ban Tik Tok from the United States.

Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA), the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, is also considering proposing a bill that would ban Tik Tok in the United States by addressing a broader “category of applications.” Warner has said that he has concerns about targeting only one app.

“I’m moving toward legislation that would create a ban, but how you do this is going to be really important,” Warner said in an interview with Axios in January.

“It’d be better to say we are concerned about this category of applications rather than a specific single app,” he added.

“These efforts will continue with TikTok. ByteDance-owned TikTok has knowingly allowed the ability for the Chinese Communist Party to access American user data,” Energy and Commerce chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) said in a statement in January.

TikTok has been negotiating with the federal government since to address the national security risks the platform might pose.

Negotiations about a potential compromise surrounding TikTok and the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) remain ongoing:

While some details have emerged about Project Texas, the code name for TikTok’s plans to implement that agreement, to date those details have been based on rumors and limited disclosures. Alongside those rumors, debates about TikTok’s risks to U.S. national security have intensified, with many policymakers calling for an outright ban. The federal government and several states have passed new laws to restrict the use of TikTok on government devices. Negotiations between the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) and the company over a national security agreement remain ongoing.

Tik Tok CEO Shou Zi Chew is expected to testify before the House Energy and Commerce Committee on March 23.