In the United States, they propose adopting the Restrict Act, which should regulate the field of information and communication technologies. One of the objectives is to limit the work of the Chinese social network TikTok, but the consequences of the adoption of the document can be much more serious. What is the Restrictions Act and what it may affect, says RTVI.
What is the Law of Restriction?
“Law to limit the occurrence of security threats presenting a risk to information and communication technologies” has been presented in the United States Senate on March 7, 2023. It is currently being considered by Congress.
The Purpose of the Restrictions Act declared address national security risks, such as impacts on critical infrastructure and the digital economy, election interference, sabotage or subversion, and obstruction of the democratic process for the benefit of “foreign adversaries” the United States.
According to the document, the Department of Commerce will be able to verify, block and mitigate transactions associated with foreign information and communication technologies that “present unwarranted risk”. Thus, the US government will have more leverage over software and hardware vendors if authorities suspect it is being used for espionage purposes.
Transactions are any purchase, import, transfer, installation, trade in, or use of any information and communication technology product or service.
If the law is passed, within 180 days from the date of its entry into force, responsible persons will have to study all transactions related to information and communication technologies that meet the requirements and determine the risks. For transactions that present an “unjustified and unacceptable risk”, decisions will be made – to prohibit the transaction or to “mitigate” the risks.
Who will be affected by the restricted law?
The law will apply to technology from states’ “foreign adversaries” – China, including Hong Kong and Macau, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Russia and Venezuela. This includes popular mobile apps and internet hosting services.
According to the text of the document, restrictions may be imposed on any equipment or software if it has more than one million users in the United States. This applies to mobile and desktop applications, games, payment services, information and communication technologies using artificial intelligence or machine learning, biotechnology and quantum technologies.
Social networks and crypto services may fall under these definitions, including bitcoin, various VPN providers, Tor and others. The document also lists network-connected sensors, webcams, home network devices, drones and unmanned aerial vehicles, which may also be subject to restrictions if the number of units sold in the United States during the year exceeds 1 million.
And what about TikTok?
US media reports that one of the purposes of the Restrict Act could be to restrict the operation of the social network TikTok, which is owned by Chinese company ByteDance, as well as a number of VPN services in the United States. US senators have repeatedly expressed concern that TikTok could hand over the massive amounts of data the app collects about its users to Beijing. writing The Wall Street Journal.
“We believe TikTok is a threat to our national security. I’m particularly concerned about TikTok’s ties to the Chinese Communist Party, which is constantly spying on Americans,” said John Thune, one of 10 senators campaigning for the Restriction Act.
TikTok spokeswoman Brooke Oberwetter explained in response that the US administration already has the ability to police the app through the US Committee on Foreign Investment, and a full ban, in her view, would be counterproductive. . At the same time, the social network, according to Oberwetter, has already reached an agreement with the Biden administration, which should be considered within six months.
“Banning TikTok in the United States is a ban on exporting American culture and values to the more than one billion people who use our service around the world.” son his words to NBC News.
What will passing the restricted law mean for ordinary people?
The restriction law was backed by a group of representatives from both parties, the document was also endorsed by the White House, calling it a “systematic framework for eliminating technological security threats”.
Those responsible will be able to bar access to various services and impose fines of up to $1 million or 20 years in prison, including individuals for various offences, for example, for providing or receiving services from access. These may include VPN services.
Willmarie Escoto, political analyst at US digital rights organization Access Now declared Vice, that the restriction law is “characterised by incredibly broad language” that raises concerns in the context of human and civil rights abuses. According to her, the law could criminalize the use of VPN services, which people use to circumvent censorship and evade surveillance on the Internet.
“Many people and organizations, including journalists, activists and human rights defenders, use VPNs to protect their online activities from surveillance and censorship. The Restraints Act will subject these groups to surveillance and repression, which can harm free speech and expression,” Escoto said.
Caitlin Vaugus, deputy director of the Free Speech Program at the Center for Democracy and Technology, said the bill could conflict with the First Amendment to the US Constitution, which guarantees free speech, press and meetings.
“Furthermore, while bills like this law may be driven by legitimate privacy concerns, banning information and communications services that have ties to foreign countries will not necessarily help protect the privacy of Americans. These countries can still obtain data through other means, such as purchasing data from private data brokers,” Vogus said.
Meanwhile, the public relations director of one of Sen. Mark Warren’s bill initiators, Rachel Cohen, told Vice that “the law directly targets companies such as Kaspersky (“Kaspersky Lab”), Huawei and TikTok, which pose risks to US national security, not individual users.
“The threshold for criminal penalties in this bill is incredibly high – far too high to address the actions of individual TikTok or VPN users,” Cohen added.
Experts believe that if the US government is to deal not with specific companies, but to truly eliminate risks to Americans’ data on the web, efforts must focus on improving privacy and data protection laws. personal. The Restriction Act, in their view, does not correspond to such objectives.
