TikTok ban in US moves one step closer: Bill is passed in House of Representatives to
The US House of Representatives today passed a Bill that would lead to a nationwide ban on TikTok if its Chinese owner refuses to sell it.
The wildly popular video sharing app has more than 150 million American users and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Beijing-based ByteDance.
Members of Congress fear that ByteDance is beholden to the Chinese government, which could demand access to the data of TikTok’s US any time it wants, track their locations or influence them by tweaking the algorithm. TikTok strongly denies these allegations.
The Bill requiring ByteDance to divest the app passed by a vote of 352-65, despite opposition from Donald Trump and Tesla owner Elon Musk. It will now go to the Senate, where its prospects are unclear.
TikTok is not facing the prospect of a nationwide ban in the UK, although it was banned from government devices in March 2023.
TikTok advocates gathered outside of the Capitol ahead of Wednesday’s vote to push back against the bill
The wildly popular video sharing app has more than 150 million American users and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Beijing-based ByteDance
Oliver Dowden said that while use of the app was ‘limited’, banning it was good cyber ‘hygiene’ after a review found there ‘could’ be a risk to how it used data.
However, he stressed the government was not telling people not to use TikTok in a personal capacity – suggesting the idea of British MPs clamping down on it in a similar way to their US counterparts remains a remote prospect.
Cathy McMorris Rodgers, a US congresswoman who supported today’s Bill, said the next steps would be up to TikTok’s Chinese owners.
She said: ‘We have given TikTok a clear choice: separate from your parent company ByteDance, which is beholden to 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’s.’
House passage of the Bill is only the first step. The Senate would also need to pass the measure for it to become law, and members of that chamber indicated it would undergo a thorough review.
Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer said he will have to consult with relevant committee chairs to determine the Bill’s path.
US President Joe Biden has said if congress passes the measure, he will sign it.
Opponents of the Bill include Mr Musk, who has likened it to ‘censorship’.
He wrote on X: ‘This law is not just about TikTok, it is about censorship and government control! If it were just about TikTok, it would only cite ”foreign control” as the issue, but it does not.’
Tesla CEO and X owner Elon Musk has come out against the TikTok bill, claiming it could be used as a form of government suppression
TikTok sent this notification to users yesterday morning, prompting them to get in touch with their lawmakers to let them know whether they support the TikTok bill
Mr Trump also threw cold water on the proposal last week, insisting if TikTok is banned its rival Facebook would ‘double their business.’
‘I don’t want Facebook, who cheated in the last Election, doing better,’ Trump wrote in a social media post. ‘They are a true Enemy of the People!’
Close Trump ally Marjorie Taylor Greene also voted against the bill, mentioning Musk by name and praising him for restoring her account on X after it was formerly banned.
‘What’s to stop the U.S. government in the future from forcing the sale of another social media company claiming it is protecting American’s data from foreign adversaries?’
‘I believe this bill can cause future problems. It’s opening Pandora’s Box and I am opposed to this bill,’ Greene said Wednesday on the House floor.
‘This is really about controlling Americans’ data, and if we cared about Americans’ data then we would stop the sale of Americans’ data universally, not just with China.’
TikTok sent this notification to users last week after the bill was introduced
But the bill’s author, Rep. Mike Gallagher, R-Wis., pushed back on that this morning.
‘TikTok is a threat to our national security because its owned by ByteDance, which does 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.’
The House vote is poised to open a new front in the long-running feud between legislators and the tech industry.
Members of US Congress have long been critical of tech platforms and their expansive influence, often clashing with executives over industry practices.
But by targeting TikTok, representatives are singling out a platform popular with millions of people, many of whom skew younger, just months before the US presidential election this autumn.
A TikTok spokesperson said: ‘This process was secret and the bill was jammed through for one reason: it’s a ban.
‘We are hopeful that the Senate will consider the facts, listen to their constituents, and realize the impact on the economy, 7 million small businesses, and the 170 million Americans who use our service.’
