Capital District Times

Congresswoman Elise Stefanik joined 56 of her colleagues in a bipartisan, bicameral amicus brief to the D.C. Circuit Court reaffirming the constitutionality of the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act. This law was enacted to protect Americans from TikTok, an application controlled by Communist China, due to its perceived national security risks.

The brief contends that Congress has sufficient authority under Article I of the Constitution to regulate foreign commerce, including foreign ownership of companies in the U.S. It asserts that the law regulates conduct rather than speech and aligns with Congress's historical practice of regulating foreign ownership over technologies used for communication by Americans. The brief also argues that the law does not infringe upon the First Amendment or violate the Bill of Attainder clause in the Constitution.

"For years, I have raised concerns about the national security threats of CCP-controlled TikTok which is why I co-led the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act which was signed into law," said Congresswoman Elise Stefanik. "We cannot allow our greatest strategic adversary to have a stronghold in American households promoting CCP propaganda, pro-Hamas talking points, and anti-American content. I am proud to join this bipartisan amicus brief to reaffirm the constitutionality of this law to stand up to TikTok and ByteDance and ensure we end the poisonous CCP-fueled malware that is TikTok."

The full amicus brief can be found [here](https://stefanik.house.gov/2024/8/stefanik-joins-bipartisan-amicus-brief-reaffirming-congressional-constitutional-authority-to-protect-americans-from-ccp-owned-tiktok).