Political controversy surrounding TikTok began under the oversight of former US president Donald Trump. In 2020, Trump issued an executive order blocking "transactions" with TikTok parent company ByteDance. Legal battles stymied Trump's efforts, with current president Joe Biden replacing the executive order with a new one ordering a review of apps tied to foreign adversaries. TikTok has since been banned from government devices in several states, including Alabama, Maryland, Iowa, Texas, South Dakota, and Utah.
The bill from Rubio, which is named the Averting the National Threat of Internet Surveillance, Oppressive Censorship and Influence, and Algorithmic Learning by the Chinese Communist Party or "ANTI-SOCIAL CCP Act," is explicitly designed to ban TikTok and any similar social media app from ByteDance in the United States. Rubio has previously claimed that the CCP could use TikTok to spread propaganda that "support party-friendly politicians or exacerbate discord in American society."