The Jewish Federations of North America (JNFA) has issued an open letter in support of a new bill – HR 7521 – proposed in the US House of Representatives that would see the banning of TikTok in America. The bill comes after several years in which there have been growing calls to ban TikTok by those who say the popular video app allows its Chinese owners to gain illicit access to the devices that use it. However, the JNFA supports the ban because TikTok has enabled the proliferation of anti-Israel and anti-Semitic propaganda since the barbaric massacre enacted by the terrorist group Hamas on October 7, 2023.
The proposed new law prohibits distributing, maintaining, or providing internet hosting services for a foreign adversary-controlled application. However, the prohibition does not apply to a covered application that executes a qualified divestiture as determined by the President. The bill refers specifically to ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok, but, if passed into law, could be used against any other business said to be working on behalf of an enemy government.
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Under the bill, a foreign adversary-controlled application is defined as one directly or indirectly operated by ByteDance, Ltd. or TikTok (including their subsidiaries or successors), or a social media company that is controlled by a foreign adversary and has been determined by the President to present a significant threat to national security.
The JNFA, in its letter, stated that, “the single most important issue to our Jewish communities today is the dramatic rise in antisemitism, documented both by the federal government, which showed FBI Hate Crime data reaching ‘historic levels’ last year, and the ADL, which tracks a 336% rise in anti-Semitic incidents since the Hamas terror attacks on Israel of October 7th.”
The letter went on to say that the JNFA is “particularly sickened and outraged by the impact that antisemitism is having on our children on college campuses and increasingly in primary and secondary education as well.”
It also reminded the members of Congress of the fact that they have spoken out against this adding, “Now is the time for action.”
The JNFA charged that TikTok is the “worst offender by far” in the proliferation of such materials.
HR 7521 authorizes the Department of Justice to investigate violations of the bill and enforce the bill’s provisions. Entities that violate the bill are subject to civil penalties based on the number of users. The bill requires a covered application to provide a user with all available account data (including posts, photos, and videos) at the user’s request before the prohibition takes effect.
The Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA), formerly known as the United Jewish Communities (UJC), is a major Jewish umbrella organization in North America.
