House to hold TikTok briefing with intel officials ahead of vote on potential ban

Intelligence officials from the FBI, Department of Justice and Office of the Director of National Intelligence will brief House lawmakers about TikTok on Tuesday, a Republican aide told The Hill.

The 1 p.m. briefing comes ahead of an impending floor vote this week on a bill that could ban TikTok, the popular social media app owned by China-based ByteDance.

The briefing was first reported by Punchbowl News.

The Protecting Americans From Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act would force ByteDance to divest TikTok or face a ban on U.S. app stores and web-hosting services.

It also would lay out a process for the president to designate other foreign adversary-controlled apps.

It advanced out of the House Energy and Commerce Committee with a rare unanimous 50-0 vote Thursday, two days after it was introduced.

But lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have raised concerns about the bill. President Trump has also spoken out against the bill and argued it would give rival Facebook a boost.

Trump tried and failed to ban TikTok in 2020 as president. He is running again in 2024.

On the left, outside groups raised concerns that a ban violates free speech rights. Those concerns, as well as the bill specifically naming TikTok, were raised by lawmakers when other attempts to ban TikTok were introduced.