Foreign Adversary Apps

The National Security Division, through FIRS, is responsible for the Department’s implementation and enforcement of the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act of 2024 (PAFACA). PAFACA authorizes the President or the Committee for the Review of Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications (chaired by the Department of Justice) to investigate and designate any website, desktop or mobile application, or augmented or immersive technology application that meets certain criteria as controlled by a foreign adversary. PAFACA generally makes it unlawful for U.S. companies to provide services to distribute, maintain, or update any foreign-adversary-controlled application, unless the application executes a qualified divestiture that the Executive Branch determines (1) eliminates the foreign-adversary control and (2) “precludes the establishment or maintenance of any operational relationship” between the application’s U.S. operations and foreign-adversary-affiliated entities.