House of Representatives Passes Bill That Would Force ByteDance to Sell TikTok or Face U.S. Ban
President Joe Biden stated he would sign the proposed legislation into law, if passed by Congress.
The House of Representatives on Wednesday passed a bill that would force ByteDance to sell TikTok or face a ban in the United States. The legislation marks the most tangible threat to the China-based company’s video-sharing platform, following years of negotiations regarding the alleged national security risks presented by the popular app.
The proposed measure, which was fast-tracked to a vote after President Joe Biden stated he would sign the bill into law if passed by Congress, received overwhelming support, with 352 Congress members voting to approve the bill and only 65 voting against it.
The bill will now go to the Senate, where “some lawmakers have expressed concern it may run afoul of the Constitution by infringing on millions of Americans’ rights to free expression and by explicitly targeting a business operating in the United States,” according to The Washington Post.
TikTok, which presently boasts more than 170 million users in the U.S., argues that the legislation has a “predetermined outcome: a total ban of TikTok in the United States,” as it is not known whether China would approve the app’s sale. Per The Guardian, the company added, “The government is attempting to strip 170 million Americans of their constitutional right to free expression. This will damage millions of businesses, deny artists an audience, and destroy the livelihoods of countless creators across the country.”
However, the bill’s authors believe that it does not represent a total ban, as ByteDance would have the option to sell TikTok. U.S. lawmakers fear that the platform presents national security risks, as “the Chinese government could use TikTok to access personal data from its millions of users and use algorithms to show them videos that could influence their views, including in the coming presidential election,” per NBC.
In March of last year, TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew testified before Congress, stating that the company has “never shared, or received a request to share, U.S. user data with the Chinese government.” He added, “Nor would TikTok honor such a request if one were ever made.”
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre stated that the administration wants “to see this bill get done so it can get to the president’s desk.”
