TikTok faces a US ban as the House of Representatives votes on a bill that would force the app to split from China-backed owner ByteDance, despite opposition from Trump and Elon Musk
TikTok is facing a ban in the United States after Congress voted overwhelmingly to force the app’s Chinese parent company to divest.
The House of Representatives passed the bill by a vote of 352 to 65 on Wednesday morning, despite calls from Donald Trump and Elon Musk to oppose the bill.
Now senators will decide whether the national security threat TikTok poses is worth the headaches of voters who love the app, and they have been calling lawmakers nonstop urging them to vote against the measure.
The House China Select Committee says Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials through ByteDance are using TikTok to spy on the locations of US users and dictate its algorithm to carry out influence campaigns, making it a national security threat.
ByteDance would have five months after signing the law to get rid of TikTok. If not, app stores and web hosting platforms are not allowed to distribute it in the US
The bill has a good chance of becoming law as a bipartisan group of lawmakers proposed the bill and Joe Biden confirmed he would sign it if it also passes the Senate.
But as the bill has gained momentum, so has the opposition. Trump threw cold water on it last week, insisting that if TikTok were banned, its rival Facebook would “double their revenue.”
“I don’t want Facebook, which cheated in the last election, to do better,” Trump wrote in a social media post. ‘They are a real enemy of the people!’
TikTok sent this notice to users Tuesday morning, asking them to contact their lawmakers to let them know if they support the TikTok bill
Lawmakers accused TikTok of providing its US user data to Chinese parent company ByteDance, which they say has ties to the Chinese Communist Party
Tesla CEO and X owner Elon Musk has spoken out against the TikTok law, claiming it could be used as a form of government oppression
Elon Musk joined Trump in opposing efforts to control TikTok’s influence, calling it government censorship, in a post on X Tuesday.
‘This law isn’t just about TikTok, it’s about censorship and government control! If it were just about TikTok, it would only mention ‘foreign control’ as an issue, but that’s not the case,” Musk said.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., also voted against the bill, mentioning Musk by name, praising him for restoring her account on
“What’s to stop the U.S. government from forcing the sale of another social media company in the future that claims to protect U.S. data from foreign adversaries?”
‘I think this bill could cause future problems. It opens Pandora’s box and I am against this bill,” Greene said in the House of Representatives on Wednesday.
“This is really about controlling US data, and if we cared about US data, we would stop the sale of US data universally, not just to China.”
But the bill’s author, Rep. Mike Gallagher, R-Wis., backtracked that Wednesday morning.
“TikTok is a threat to our national security because it is owned by ByteDance, which is doing the bidding of the Communist Party,” Gallagher said on the floor.
“This bill therefore forces TikTok to break up with the Chinese Communist Party. It does not apply to American companies.’
Gallagher argued that his bill would only affect companies controlled by foreign adversaries.
Greene was among several key Republican members who voted against the bill, including Reps. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., Tom McClintock, R-Calif., Nancy Mace, R-S.C., and more .
Across the aisle, “Squad” members Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., also voted against the measure.
One lawmaker, Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, voted present.
TikTok opposed the “ban” in a statement released after the House passed the bill.
‘This process was secret and the bill was blocked for one reason: it is a ban. We are hopeful that the Senate will consider the facts, listen to their constituents and realize the impact on the economy, on seven million small businesses and on the 170 million Americans who use our service.”
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., said the bill could be akin to opening “Pandora’s Box” and that the measure’s future implications are unknown.
TikTok advocates gathered outside the Capitol to oppose the bill ahead of Wednesday’s vote
Some of the advocates who came to the Capitol on Wednesday were TikTok content creators
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson said in a statement that the vote “demonstrates Congress’s opposition to communist China’s efforts to spy on and manipulate Americans and signals our resolve to defeat our enemies.” to be frightened.’
“I urge the Senate to pass this bill and send it to the President so he can sign it into law,” he continued.
In response to the growing support behind the bill, TikTok sent a push notification to its 100 million users yesterday saying, “Your voice matters in ending the lockdown.”
The notification prompted users to contact their member of Congress to urge them to vote against the proposed bill.
As a result, congressional offices received hundreds of calls about the bill Tuesday and Wednesday morning, congressional aides told DailyMail.com.
Many callers appeared to be children or concerned parents pleading for the app not to be banned.
Users are told that the bill threatens TikTok’s survival, but what it actually does is force the parent company to divest — something callers are largely in favor of once employees explain the bill’s nuance.
“TikTok’s campaign to have users call their representatives shows how much control they have. This campaign is reminiscent of typical Communist Party tactics,” Rep. Greg Murphy, R-NC, said in a statement to DailyMail.com on Tuesday.
“Unfortunately, these callers don’t understand what they are really advocating: they are following orders from Beijing. The CCP hopes to copy its modus operandi of telling its citizens what to do.”
His office phones ‘exploded’ according to staff. Murphy voted in favor of the bill on Wednesday.
Rep. Juan Ciscomani, R-Ariz., told DailyMail.com that he is in favor of the bill and despite the flood of calls: “We will talk to any voter who wants to call us and talk to us through this avenue.”
“We explain our position, and it is a normal part of the process,” he said.
Rep. John Duarte, R-Calif., told DailyMail.com that while he doesn’t yet know how he will vote on the bill, “he won’t because 16-year-olds are calling me from all over the country.”
The bill passed the committee last week on a unanimous 50-0 vote.
In a statement, TikTok said of the bill’s passage through committee: “This legislation has a predetermined outcome: a total ban on TikTok in the United States. The government is trying to deprive 170 million Americans of their constitutional right to free speech. This will damage millions of businesses, deny artists an audience, and destroy the livelihoods of countless creators across the country.”
TikTok sent this notice to users last week after the bill was introduced
Lawmakers have also expressed reservations about how the TikTok bill could affect First Amendment protections.
“I think it’s a terrible idea and it’s the hysteria that’s sweeping through both parties now.” Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., told DailyMail.com on Friday.
“In America, we don’t just tell people that you can’t have a business because we don’t like you. And 150 million people are using their First Amendment freedom to express themselves on TikTok, and you can’t just take that away from them.”
Fellow Kentucky Republican Rep. Thomas Massie agreed.
‘The so-called TikTok ban is a Trojan horse. The president will have the power to ban websites, not just apps,” he wrote on X.