TIME IS TIKING
TikTok facing BAN in US after vote passes demanding app be sold by ‘shady’ Chinese owners
China warned that a proposed ban on TikTok would 'come back to bite' the US
TIKTOK is facing a "ban" in the US after the House Representatives passed a bill demanding that the app be sold by its Chinese owner.
Lawmakers are said to have acted on concerns that the social media platform's current ownership structure is a national security threat.
2
2
The measure would give TikTok's Chinese owner ByteDance six months to divest the US assets of the short-video app - or face a ban.
It comes amid concerns over ByteDance's alleged links to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
Passed in the US House of Representatives by a vote of 352-65, 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 need to pass the measure for it to become law.
Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has not indicated how he plans to proceed.
But President Joe Biden has said if Congress passes the measure, he will sign it.
Lawmakers contend that ByteDance is beholden to the Chinese government so it could demand access to the data of TikTok consumers in the US - of whom there are about 170 million - any time it wants.
No. 2 House Republican Steve Scalise said on X: "This is a critical national security issue. The Senate must take this up and pass it."
Most read in Tech
And Rep. Nick LaLota said: "We have a national security obligation to prevent America's most strategic adversary from being so involved in our lives."
Both opposition and support for the move has been bipartisan.
Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, who was in favour of the bill, told AP: "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."
Opponents to the bill criticised it for employing "CCP-style oppression".
Rep. Tom McClintock said: "The answer to authoritarianism is not more authoritarianism.
"The answer to CCP-style propaganda is not CCP-style oppression.
"Let us slow down before we blunder down this very steep and slippery slope."
Some Republicans said the US should warn consumers of any potential privacy and propaganda concerns, while several Democrats spoke of the impact a ban would have on its millions of US-based users, many of whom are entrepreneurs and business owners.
Rep. Robert Garcia said no information had been shared with him that convinced him TikTok is a national security threat.
He said: "This idea that we're going to ban, essentially, entrepreneurs, small business owners, the main way how young people actually communicate with each other is to me insane."
TikTok today urged senators to listen to their constituents before taking any action.
A 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 realise the impact on the economy, seven million small businesses, and 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 so they want it to be banned.
They fear that China could undermine US democracy and the upcoming elections by stealing data from users on the video app.
The Office of the Director of National Intelligence warned that Beijing previously targeted Democrat and Republican candidates in the US midterm elections in 2022.
As increasing fears over how the app might be used to disrupt the big presidential election in November rumble on.
Under Chinese national security laws Beijing even has the power to force the owners of TikTok ByteDance to hand over access to US users data
This can reportedly be done at any time if they require it to gather intelligence.
TikTok has repeatedly assured US officials that it has never and will never share any data with Chinese authorities.
But this hasn't stopped the US from worrying over the risk as they continue to express concerns over the social media app.
They want to get a law passed banning the app by President Joe Biden.
The first step towards a national axing of TikTok starts through 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 having found evidence that TikTok threatens national security.
He added: "This kind of bullying behaviour that cannot win in fair competition disrupts companies' normal business activity, 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 can be used as a tool by the Chinese government, claiming that it has never shared US users' data with Chinese authorities and that it would refuse to do so if asked.
The measure is the latest in a series of moves in Washington to respond to US national security concerns about China, from connected vehicles to advanced AI chips to cranes at US ports.
Rep. Mike Gallagher, the bill's author, 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 any American company."
White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said yesterday that the goal was 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 the data from TikTok - children's data, adults data - to be going, to be staying here in America or going to China?"
Donald Trump recently voiced opposition to the effort, stating on Monday that while he believes TikTok poses a national security threat, he is against banning the app because doing so would help its rival, Facebook - which he believes is connected to his 2020 election loss.
He tried to ban the app when he was president but the courts blocked the action after TikTok sued, arguing that such actions would violate free speech and due process rights.
READ MORE SUN STORIES
The vote comes just over a week after the bill was proposed.
There was a 50-0 vote in favour of the bill in the House Energy and Commerce Committee last week.
Topics