National Security or Government Overreach? Homeland Security’s Solution to Foreign Data Collection

By Alice Dalton

As social media increasingly shapes global politics, the House Homeland Security Committee has proposed legislation to stop foreign companies from collecting American data. In an interview, Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene argues that foreign companies holding vast amounts of American data is a direct threat to national security and not something that should continue to be allowed.

I got the chance to speak to Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA-14), a co-author of the bill. She believes that foreign companies holding Americans’ data is “against American values” and a threat to national security. In response to this threat, she and Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania have drafted a bill, known as the AAFAA, or the Act Against Foreign Adversary Applications. This bill states that if a foreign application passes 10 million American users, they have 90 days to sell it to an American company or the application will be banned in the U.S. Though some are wary of the extremity of the bill, Greene argues that foreign adversaries holding American data at that large of a scale is a threat to national security, and though Americans have the right and will to be a member of whatever apps they choose, it is the government’s duty to step in when American citizens are at risk. 

In her authorship speech, Greene makes it clear that the “foreign adversaries” mentioned in the title of the bill are in reference to historically and/or currently communist countries, including Russia, China and North Korea, common targets of Republican legislation. Unnamed Democrats in the Homeland Security committee have expressed concern that the open targeting of these countries could cause both foreign and domestic tension. 

Representatives who opposed the bill suggested an amendment to require oversight my a committee rather than forcing a sale. Greene, however, does not agree with that, stating that a committee would “not be enough on its own.” and that the only way to completely safeguard American information is to ensure that foreign countries have no access to this data at all.

The extremity of this bill still remains a problem with other representatives. In the event that the owners of an application refuse to sell to an American company, the removal of the app could cause major upset and distrust among the American public. For example, when TikTok, an application owned by ByteDance Ltd. in China, refused to sell to the U.S., a 14-hour ban resulted until ByteDance sold. The American people were outraged. Many citizens, especially younger users, felt that their free speech was being restricted. The trust of the government by the American public is at an all-time low, and a bill this vicious could deepen that distrust.