Description:
H.R. 750 would require entities that sell or distribute the application TikTok, or any successor application or service distributed by ByteDance Limited, to disclose to consumers that current law prohibits its use on government-owned devices. The bill would direct the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to enforce that requirement. Based on information from the FTC, CBO expects the commission would need one employee in 2023 and 2024, at an average annual cost of $225,000, to issue guidance to clarify the content of the disclosures and which entities would need to make the disclosures. In each year after 2024, CBO estimates that the agency would need three employees to enforce potential violations. On that basis and accounting for anticipated inflation, CBO estimates that implementing H.R. 750 would cost $3 million over the 2023-2028 period; any spending would be subject to the availability of appropriated funds. The bill would authorize the FTC to collect civil monetary penalties, which are recorded as revenues, from businesses found in violation of the act, along with pursuing other remedies. The extent to which businesses would violate the new rules is uncertain. Furthermore, if a business does violate the new rules and the FTC chooses to proceed with an enforcement action, the extent to which the agency pursues civil penalties instead of other remedies is also uncertain, as is the length of time it would take to resolve a case. On that basis, CBO estimates that any additional revenues collected over the next decade would not be significant.
