TikTok’s Fate Now Hinges on the Senate


参议院对众议院通过的法案踩下了刹车，并提出可能对该法案进行修改，这让支持者快速通过法案的希望落空，同时也可能给这款短视频应用带来喘息机会。


本周早些时候，TikTok的支持者在华盛顿特区。

美国众议院此前迅速通过了一项将禁止中国公司控制的TikTok在美国运营或者强制出售该平台的法案。美国总统拜登(Joe Biden)愿意签署该法案。但参议院踩下了刹车，并提出可能对该法案进行修改，这让支持者快速通过法案的希望落空，同时也可能给这款大受欢迎的短视频应用带来喘息机会。 6park.com
The House swiftly passed a bill that would ban Chinese-controlled TikTok from operating in the U.S. or force a sale. President Biden wants to sign it. But the Senate has hit the brakes and floated possible changes to the measure, dashing proponents’ hope for quick passage and offering a potential reprieve to the popular short-video app. 6park.com
   
两党许多参议员都支持众议院此次立法保护国家安全的初衷，并担心中国可能会干预美国舆论，美国情报界曾就此发出警告。尽管如此，最近几天他们仍明确表示，打算留出充分时间审议该法案，并有可能重新修改其措辞，这凸显出设法通过国会推动任何举措的难度。 6park.com
Many senators of both parties embrace the House legislation’s aim of protecting national security and have concerns about potential Chinese meddling in shaping U.S. public opinion, fueled by warnings from the intelligence community. Still, they made clear in recent days that they planned to take their time considering the bill and could potentially refashion its language, underscoring the difficulties of maneuvering any measure through Congress. 6park.com
   
参议员表示，之所以需要谨慎行事，其中的考量包括担心针对TikTok的行动会限制言论自由，并开创政治干预私人企业的令人不安的先例，同时如果TikTok最终被关闭，还会殃及热衷于该应用的年轻选民。 6park.com
Among the reasons for moving cautiously, senators say: worries that targeting TikTok would curb free speech and set an uncomfortable precedent of meddling with a private business—while also trampling on younger voters devoted to the app if TikTok were ultimately shut down. 6park.com
   
特拉华州民主党参议员Chris Coons说：“我听到一些参议员非常担心一家中国控制的社交媒体平台会给美国人的个人数据带来的风险。”同时他表示，另一方面，“这个应用也广受欢迎。” 6park.com
“Senators who I’ve heard from are gravely concerned about the risk to Americans’ personal data posed by a Chinese-controlled social-media platform,” said Sen. Chris Coons (D., Del.). On the other hand, he said, “It’s also wildly popular.”


特拉华州民主党参议员Chris Coons

Coons说，他支持确保美国人的数据不会为中国政府获取，同时“希望确保这是否是实现这一目标的最佳途径”。 6park.com
Coons said he supported making sure Americans’ data couldn’t be accessed by the Chinese government, and was “looking for reassurances about whether or not this is the best pathway to accomplish that.” 6park.com
   
参议院多数党领袖、纽约州民主党籍联邦参议员舒默(Chuck Schumer)尚未透露他对该议案持何种态度，以及他是否愿意推动参议院腾出时间就此事进行讨论和投票；该议案正与其他优先事项竞争，包括支出立法、一项税收议案以及多个司法职务提名人选。此事势头放缓的一个迹象是，参议院商务委员会(Senate Commerce Committee)主席、华盛顿州民主党籍联邦参议员Maria Cantwell称众议院的这项议案需要修改，而且她已在致力于她自己的相关立法。 6park.com
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.) hasn’t yet signaled his approach to the bill and whether he would be willing to devote the Senate’s time to debating and voting on the matter, which is competing with other priorities including spending legislation, a tax bill and judicial nominees. In one sign of the slowing momentum, Senate Commerce Committee Chairwoman Maria Cantwell (D., Wash.) said the House bill needs changes and has been working on related legislation of her own. 6park.com
    
Cantwell上周四告诉媒体记者，她已在致力于“某种更有力、更长远的方案，但我们也会考虑这个，希望我们能找出办法，给予美国民众某种可以最大限度减少数据收集并保护他们的东西”。 6park.com
Cantwell told reporters Thursday that she had been working on “something a little more robust and long term, but we’ll consider this, and hopefully we’ll figure out how to get the American people something that minimizes data collection and protects them.” 6park.com
    
助手们表示，参议院可能会在几个月后就修改后的议案进行投票，或者试图将其纳入一个更大的、“必过”的一揽子方案，比如国会今年晚些时候的年度防务政策议案。最快的选项是将其附于本周必须通过的一项支出方案，但许多助手都认为此种可能性很小。相关进程如果在参议院放缓，TikTok的说客和该公司的支持者可能会有机会在某些参议员决定TikTok命运之际尝试争取他们的支持。TikTok有大约1.7亿美国用户。 6park.com
It could be months before the Senate votes on an altered bill, or attempts to include it in a larger, “must-pass” package, such as the Congress’s annual defense-policy bill later this year, aides said. The quickest option would be to attach it to a spending package that must be passed next week, though many aides viewed that as a long shot. The slowdown in the Senate could give TikTok lobbyists and the company’s backers an opening to try to win over some senators as they decide the fate of the app, which is used by about 170 million Americans. 6park.com
    
根据该议案，如果总部位于中国的字节跳动(ByteDance)不剥离对TikTok的控制权，TikTok实际上将在美国被封禁。若法案得以生效，自生效之日起，字节跳动将有大约六个月时间来符合要求。众议院上周三以352票支持、65票反对的表决结果通过了这项议案。 6park.com
The bill, which flew through the House in a 352-65 vote Wednesday, would force Chinese-controlled ByteDance to divest itself of the app, or it would effectively be banned in the U.S. ByteDance would have about six months from the enactment of the bill to comply. 6park.com
   
曾在前总统特朗普(Donald Trump)手下担任美国财政部长的姆努钦(Steven Mnuchin)上周四在CNBC电视频道上表示，他正在组建一个财团争取收购TikTok，另一些投资者也非正式地表达了对TikTok的兴趣。对众议院上述议案的持批评态度的人士指称，鉴于中国政府对该交易的反对以及分拆TikTok美国业务的复杂性，该议案将导致TikTok停业。 6park.com
Steven Mnuchin, who served as Treasury secretary under former President Donald Trump, said on CNBC Thursday that he was putting together a consortium to try to buy TikTok, and other investors have expressed interest informally. Critics of the House bill charge it would lead to a shutdown, given the Chinese government’s opposition to a deal and the complexities of splitting off the U.S. operations. 6park.com
   
TikTok的任何出售价格都将会很高，该公司美国业务的估值可能超过1,000亿美元。 6park.com
Any price tag would be steep, perhaps valuing the U.S. operations at over $100 billion. 6park.com
    
尽管如此，一些参议员表示，姆努钦的举措表明有可能会在某个时候达成交易。 6park.com
Still, some senators said the Mnuchin effort pointed to the possibility of a deal at some point. 6park.com
    
弗吉尼亚州民主党籍联邦参议员Mark Warner在福斯新闻(Fox News)上表示：“人们仍然可能看到所有疯狂而有趣的视频，但最终而言，该应用的所有权将归美国、欧洲或其他国家，而非中国。”他赞扬了姆努钦的言论。 6park.com
“People could still get to see all the crazy and fun videos, but, ultimately, it would be with American or European or somebody other than Chinese ownership,” said Sen. Mark Warner (D., Va.), who praised Mnuchin’s comments, on Fox News. 6park.com
     
Warner已表示他支持众议院的上述法案；他是参议院情报委员会主席，在这一问题上颇有影响力。Warner去年提出了另一项名为《限制法案》(Restrict Act)的单独法案，他说该法案旨在降低TikTok对国家安全的威胁。 6park.com
Warner, the chairman of the Intelligence Committee and an influential voice on the issue, has said he supports the House bill. Last year, Warner introduced separate legislation, called the Restrict Act, that he said was intended to mitigate the national-security threat from TikTok. 6park.com
   
美国议员和政府官员对字节跳动可能将美国用户的数据提供给中国政府表示担忧。该公司表示没有收到过任何此类请求，即使收到也不会遵守。 6park.com
Lawmakers and administration officials have expressed concerns that ByteDance could give U.S. users’ data to China’s government. The company has said it hasn’t received any such requests and wouldn’t comply if it did. 6park.com
   
参议院民主党竞选部门负责人、密歇根州联邦参议员Gary Peters说：“我不知道年轻选民是否会介意TikTok的所有者是谁，但我确实认为，如果他们的个人信息被发送到中国，并有可能被用来对付他们，年轻选民很可能会非常担心。” 6park.com
“I don’t know if young voters are going to mind who owns TikTok, but I do think young voters will probably be very concerned if their personal information is being sent to China and potentially used against them,” said Sen. Gary Peters of Michigan, the head of Senate Democrats’ campaign arm. 


TikTok有大约1.7亿美国用户。

据熟悉此事的国会助手和前情报官员称，国会内部封禁TikTok的呼声高涨并不是因为出现了任何新的机密信息，而是反映了美国国家安全官员多年来与议员接触的结果，这些官员长期以来一直称中国政府有可能将该应用用于邪恶目的。 6park.com
The surge in momentum to ban TikTok in Congress isn’t due to specific new classified information, according to congressional aides and former intelligence officials familiar with the matter. Instead, the heightened interest reflects the culmination of years of outreach to lawmakers by U.S. national-security officials who have long argued there exists a potential for the app to be used by the Chinese government for nefarious purposes, according to congressional aides and former intelligence officials familiar with the matter.  6park.com
    
据这些助手和官员称，TikTok的成功加剧了美国国家安全官员的担忧，除了担心该应用可能秘密获取数据外，他们还担心它可能会巧妙地影响公众对中国或攸关中国共产党的重要问题的态度。 6park.com
TikTok’s success has intensified concerns that the app could subtly shape public attitudes about China or issues important to the Chinese Communist Party, in addition to the worries about the potential for surreptitious data acquisition, according to the aides and officials.  6park.com
   
美国情报部门负责人最担心的问题之一是，由于该平台的不透明及其算法将内容展示给用户的方式，即使发生了中国影响力行动，他们也不一定能发现。 6park.com
Among the top concerns for intelligence leaders is that they wouldn’t even necessarily be able to detect a Chinese influence operation if one were taking place due to the opacity of the platform and how its algorithm surfaces content to users. 6park.com
   
美国联邦调查局(FBI)局长克里斯托弗·雷(Christopher Wray)上周在国会作证时说，这种行动“非常难以察觉，这也是以TikTok为代表的国家安全担忧如此意义重大的原因之一”。 6park.com
Such operations, Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Christopher Wray said this week in congressional testimony, “are extraordinarily difficult to detect, which is part of what makes the national-security concerns represented by TikTok so significant.”


美国联邦调查局局长克里斯托弗·雷本周表示，与TikTok有关的国家安全问题非常重大。

据一位熟悉TikTok所做努力的人士透露，该应用希望说服参议员们相信，其数据安全可以通过某种方式得到保障，降低与中国有关的风险。根据“得克萨斯计划”(Project Texas)，TikTok目前将美国用户的数据存储在其合作伙伴甲骨文公司(Oracle)的云基础设施中。 6park.com
TikTok hopes to persuade senators that the app’s data can be secured in a way in which the risks connected to China are mitigated, according to a person familiar with its efforts. Under a program called Project Texas, TikTok stores U.S. users’ data in the cloud infrastructure of its partner Oracle. 6park.com
    
TikTok称美国数据是安全的。在谈到这一说法时，商务委员会共和党领袖、得克萨斯州参议员克鲁兹(Ted Cruz)表示：“我将继续以开放的心态博采众议，但迄今提出的论点完全不能说服我。” 6park.com
“I will continue to listen to arguments from all sides with an open mind, but I have not been at all persuaded by the arguments put forward so far,” Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, the top Republican on the Commerce Committee, said of TikTok’s assertions that U.S. data is secure. 6park.com
    
围绕TikTok的争斗已经跨越了党派界限，促使一些议员和外部团体组成不同寻常的联盟。特朗普对该法案提出批评，担心它可能会纵容Facebook这个他口中的“人民公敌”。不过，特朗普并未大力推动共和党议员否决该法案，只有15名众议院共和党人对该众议院法案投了反对票。 6park.com
Already the fight over TikTok has cut across party lines, bringing together unusual coalitions of lawmakers and outside groups. Trump has criticized the bill, expressing concerns it could boost Facebook, which he described as an “enemy of the people.” But he hasn’t forcefully pushed GOP lawmakers to reject it, and only 15 House Republicans voted against the House bill. 6park.com
   
该法案的批评者包括一些有自由主义倾向的议员，如肯塔基州共和党参议员保罗(Rand Paul)，他谴责该法案是一种政府审查形式。 6park.com
Critics of the bill include libertarian-leaning lawmakers, such as Sen. Rand Paul (R., Ky.), who have decried it as a form of government censorship. 6park.com
   
“《宪法》第一修正案规定，你有权表达自己的观点。”保罗上周四对记者说。TikTok用户“通过跳舞或其他任何方式在TikTok上展现自我。你不能就这样告诉他们不能这样做。” 6park.com
“The Constitution says that you have a First Amendment right to express yourself,” Paul told reporters Thursday. TikTok’s users “express themselves through dancing or whatever else they do on TikTok. You can’t just tell them they can’t do that.” 6park.com
   
在众议院，一个由50名民主党人组成的团体投票反对该法案，理由是担心它会限制言论自由，并对通过该应用赚钱的人造成影响。一些参议院民主党人也提出了类似担忧，并希望对Meta Platforms等TikTok竞争对手公司的一系列社交媒体问题进行调查。 6park.com
In the House, a bloc of 50 Democrats voted against the bill, citing concerns about curtailing free speech and the impact on people who earn income on the app. Some Senate Democrats have raised similar worries, as well as an interest in looking at a range of social-media issues at rival companies such as Meta Platforms. 6park.com
    
“基本思路应该是制约所有社交媒体，而不仅仅是其中一家，”马萨诸塞州民主党参议员沃伦(Elizabeth Warren)上周四表示。“如果在隐私、对待儿童方面存在问题，那么无论这种行为发生在哪里，我们都要加以制止。” 6park.com
“The basic idea should be to put curbs on all social media, not just one,” Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D., Mass.) said Thursday. “If there’s a problem with privacy, with how our children are treated, then we need to curb that behavior wherever it occurs.”