TikTok is being banned in the US as votes demand the app is sold by Chinese owners
TIKTOK is facing a “ban” in the US after House Representatives passed a bill requiring the app to be sold by its Chinese owner.
Lawmakers are said to have taken action over concerns that the social media platform’s current ownership structure poses a national security threat.
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The measure would give TikTok’s Chinese owner ByteDance six months to divest the short-video app’s US assets – or face a ban.
It comes amid concerns over ByteDance’s alleged ties to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
Passed the U.S. House of Representatives by a vote of 352 to 65. the bill now faces a more uncertain path in the Senate, where lawmakers have indicated it will undergo a thorough review.
The Senate will also have to approve the measure before it becomes law.
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Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has not indicated how he plans to proceed.
But President Joe Biden has said that if Congress approves the measure, he will sign it.
Lawmakers argue that ByteDance has obligations to the Chinese government, allowing it to demand access to the data of TikTok consumers in the US – of whom there are approximately 170 million – at any time.
House Republican Steve Scalise, No. 2, said on X: “This is a critical national security issue. The Senate must take it up and pass it.”
And Rep. Nick LaLota said, “We have a national security obligation to prevent America’s most strategic adversary from becoming so involved in our lives.”
Both opposition and support for the move were bipartisan.
Representative Cathy McMorris Rodgers, who supported the bill, told AP: “We have given TikTok a clear choice.
“Separate from your parent company ByteDance, which is dependent on the CCP (the Chinese Communist Party), and remain operational in the United States, or side with the CCP and face the consequences.
“The choice is TikTok.”
Opponents of the bill criticized it for using “CCP-style repression.”
Rep. Tom McClintock said: “The answer to authoritarianism is not more authoritarianism.
“The answer to CCP-style propaganda is not CCP-style oppression.
“Let’s slow down before we charge down this very steep and slippery slope.”
Some Republicans said the U.S. should warn consumers about potential privacy and propaganda issues, while several Democrats spoke about the impact a ban would have on the millions of U.S.-based users, many of whom are entrepreneurs and business owners.
Rep. Robert Garcia said no information was shared with him that convinced him TikTok is a threat to national security.
He said: “This idea that we’re essentially going to ban entrepreneurs and small business owners, the main way that young people actually communicate with each other, I think is insane.”
TikTok today urged senators to listen to their constituents before taking action.
A spokesperson said: “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 this has on the economy, on seven million small businesses and on the 170 million Americans who use our service. “
Why does the US want to ban TikTok?
US intelligence chiefs have warned that TikTok is a potential tool used by the Chinese government, which is why they want it banned.
They fear that China could undermine American democracy and the upcoming elections by stealing data from users of the video app.
The Office of the Director of National Intelligence warned that Beijing had previously targeted Democratic and Republican candidates in the 2022 US midterm elections.
As growing fears continue over how the app could be used to disrupt the major presidential election in November.
Under Chinese national security laws, Beijing even has the power to force TikTok’s owners ByteDance to hand over access to US user data
This can reportedly be done at any time if they need to do so to gather intelligence.
TikTok has repeatedly assured U.S. officials that it has never shared data with Chinese authorities and never will.
But this hasn’t stopped the US from raising concerns about the risk as it continues to raise concerns about the social media app.
They want a law banning the app passed by President Joe Biden.
The first step toward a national takedown of TikTok begins with a bill officially known as the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act.
Ahead of today’s vote, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin accused the US of “suppressing TikTok” despite never finding evidence that TikTok threatens national security.
He added: “This kind of bullying behavior that cannot win in fair competition disrupts the normal business activities of companies, damages the confidence of international investors in the investment environment and damages the normal international economic and trade order.
“In the end, this will inevitably come back to bite the United States itself.”
TikTok has denied that it could be used as a tool by the Chinese government, claiming that it has never shared US users’ data with Chinese authorities and would refuse to do so if asked.
The move is the latest in a series of moves in Washington to respond to U.S. national security concerns about China, from connected vehicles to advanced AI chips and cranes at U.S. ports.
Rep. Mike Gallagher, the author of the bill, said as he emerged from the briefing: “What we’ve tried to do here is be very thoughtful and deliberate about the need to force a divestiture of TikTok without granting any authority to the executive branch to regulate content or go after an American company.”
White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said yesterday that the goal is ending Chinese ownership, not banning TikTok.
He explained: “Do we want TikTok, as a platform, to be owned by an American company or owned by China?
“Do we want TikTok’s data – kids’ data, adults’ data – to go, stay here in America or go to China?”
Donald Trump recently voiced his opposition to the effort, stating Monday that while he believes TikTok poses a national security threat, he is against banning the app because it would help its rival, Facebook — which he said is related with his election loss in 2020.
He tried to ban the app when he was president, but the courts blocked the move after TikTok filed a lawsuit, arguing such actions would violate freedom of expression and the right to a fair trial.
The vote comes just over a week after the bill was proposed.
Last week, the bill passed 50-0 in the House Energy and Commerce Committee.