US House passes bill that could ban TikTok nationwide
The US House of Representatives has approved a significant legislation that could potentially lead to the banning of TikTok in the United States.
The legislation would require the Chinese parent company of the social media giant, ByteDance, to divest its controlling stake within six months, or face the prospect of TikTok being barred in the US.
Although the bill garnered overwhelming bipartisan support in the House, it must still pass through the Senate and receive the president’s signature to become law.
Lawmakers have harbored long-standing concerns regarding China’s influence over TikTok, which is owned by ByteDance, a Chinese company established in 2012. ByteDance, headquartered in Beijing, is registered in the Cayman Islands and maintains offices across Europe and the US.
Should the bill successfully navigate through the Senate, President Joe Biden has pledged to promptly sign it into law, potentially sparking diplomatic tensions with China.
ByteDance would need to obtain approval from Chinese authorities to proceed with the forced divestiture, a move that Beijing has vowed to oppose.
Foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin warned that such action could have repercussions for the US.
Mike Gallagher, a Republican from Wisconsin and co-author of the bill, emphasized the importance of preventing a scenario where a significant news platform in America is controlled or owned by a company beholden to the Chinese Communist Party.
Chinese firms are obligated by a national security law to share data with the government upon request.
TikTok has endeavored to assure regulators that it has implemented measures to safeguard the data of its 150 million users in the US, segregating it from ByteDance employees in China.
The CEO of TikTok, Shou Zi Chew, affirmed the company’s dedication to maintaining data security and ensuring the platform remains “immune from external interference.”
He cautioned that the passage of the bill would result in the app being banned in the US, granting “greater influence to a select few other social media companies” and jeopardizing thousands of American jobs.
Nonetheless, a probe conducted by the Wall Street Journal in January revealed that the system remains “vulnerable,” with data unofficially shared between TikTok in the US and ByteDance in China. Notable instances, such as one where ByteDance employees in China accessed a journalist’s data to trace their sources, have exacerbated concerns.
Speaking ahead of the vote, Hakeem Jeffries – the top Democrat in the House – welcomed the bill, saying it would decrease “the likelihood that TikTok user data is exploited and privacy undermined by a hostile foreign adversary”.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer stated that the chamber will now evaluate the legislation.
The bill’s prospects in the upper chamber of Congress are uncertain, particularly after former Republican White House candidate Donald Trump voiced his opposition to the bill.
Trump, who previously attempted to ban the app during his presidency, altered his stance following a recent meeting with Republican donor Jeff Yass, purportedly a minor stakeholder in ByteDance.
Trump’s disapproval was echoed by some House members on Wednesday. Georgia Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene expressed concerns on social media, suggesting that the bill could potentially enable Congress to compel the sale of other corporations under the guise of safeguarding US data from foreign adversaries.
Additionally, some Democrats are opposed to a ban, fearing it may alienate the app’s youthful user base at a time when the party is striving to maintain its appeal among younger voters.
However, the leaders of the Senate Intelligence Committee welcomed the House vote. Both Democrat Mark Warner and Republican Marco Rubio expressed their determination to guide the bill through the Senate.
“We are united in our concern about the national security threat posed by TikTok – a platform with enormous power to influence and divide Americans whose parent company ByteDance remains legally required to do the bidding of the Chinese Communist Party,” they said in a statement.
Following the vote, TikTok seemed to recommence its efforts to encourage users to advocate for the company by sending another notification prompting them to reach out to their representatives. A comparable action last week resulted in congressional offices being inundated with calls, a development that, according to some staffers interviewed by the BBC, intensified opposition to the company.
Outside the White House on Wednesday, a small group of supporters assembled to protest against the bill. Tiffany Yu, a young disability advocate from Los Angeles, informed the BBC that the platform was crucial to her professional endeavors.
“Fifteen years ago I only dreamed of reaching 30 to 40 people,” she says. Now, she has millions. Another demonstrator, Ophelia Nichols, highlighted the bill’s negative impact on US businesses.
“Shame on them, at the House,” she said.
Content creator Mona Swain, 23, said her earnings from the app were paying her mother’s mortgage and for her siblings’ college educations.
“To be put out of work at such a crazy time in my life and just in a lot of other creators’ lives, it’s really, really scary right now,” Ms Swain told Reuters news agency.