The 'Insanely Broad' RESTRICT Act Could Ban Much More Than Just TikTok

Digital rights experts told Motherboard the RESTRICT Act, which may be used to ban TikTok, could impact many other types of services too, including VPNs.

Highlights

• The RESTRICT Act could lead to apps and other ICT services with connections to foreign countries being banned in the U.S., multiple digital rights experts told Motherboard.
• The bill could have implications not just for social networks, but potentially security tools such as virtual private networks (VPNs) that consumers use to encrypt and route their traffic, one said.
• It only applies to technology linked to a “foreign adversary” Those countries include China (as well as Hong Kong; Cuba; Iran; North Korea; Russia, and Venezuela).
• The bill’s language includes vague terms such as “desktop applications,” “mobile applications” and “payment applications.

---

Read the original article