Lawmakers from both parties are eager to curb apps suspected of sharing information with Chinese intelligence agencies. There’s one big problem: the apps keep popping up.
For now, Congress has taken a one-by-one approach to Chinese apps. And while the politics of app bans remains tricky, lawmakers told NOTUS they think momentum is growing for a broader approach.
“The problem is that if you do it on an application-specific basis, then there’ll be another one that pops up with a different name,” Republican Sen. John Cornyn told NOTUS. “It’s what’s sometimes called whack-a-mole.”