The United States House of Representatives has approved a bill that could potentially lead to the banning of the social media platform TikTok in the country.
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The bill received broad bipartisan support, passing with a vote of 352 to 65.
It now progresses to the 100-member Senate, where its future is less certain. President Joe Biden has expressed his intention to sign the bill into law should it reach his desk.
If enacted, the legislation would require TikTok’s Chinese owner, ByteDance, to divest its US assets within approximately six months or face a ban on its video-sharing app in the US.
The motivation behind the bill stems from concerns that ByteDance may be influenced by the Chinese government, raising fears that the data collected from TikTok’s large American user base could pose a national security risk, particularly given recent Chinese laws regarding data and intelligence gathering.
Despite ByteDance’s claims of operating independently from the Chinese government, the bill has drawn criticism from Chinese officials, with the Chinese foreign ministry characterizing it as unjust and contrary to principles of fair competition and international trade.
Speaking in support of the bill, US Representative Cathy McMorris Rodgers emphasized the need for TikTok to distance itself from its Chinese parent company to continue operations in the US, framing the decision as a choice between aligning with the Chinese Communist Party or remaining operational in the US.
Critics of the bill have raised concerns about potential implications for freedom of speech and have called for more comprehensive data privacy protections rather than targeting specific companies.
