In what might be a ban on a social media platform in the United States, the House of Representatives has passed a measure to ban TikTok.
A total of 352 votes were cast in favor of the proposition, with one member choosing not to participate.
With a unanimous 50-0 bipartisan vote, the bill was moved out of committee. This level of unity in the face of such a politically polarized environment is quite extraordinary.
Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL) and Republican Mike Gallagher (R-WI) are leading a legislative effort to block Bytedance, the parent company of TikTok, from doing business in the US unless it sells TikTok within 165 days of the bill’s passing. Furthermore, the buyer must be a nation that America does not see as a threat.
It is unclear if the Senate will consider the proposal.
The Chinese government has been accused of having access to user data and possible control over Bytedance, a charge the business rejected. Many have voiced the potential dangers that TikTok poses to national security.
There are those who are worried that the app’s success among young Americans might provide the Chinese Communist Party a platform for a mass influence campaign.
On the other hand, lawmakers wary of attempting to regulate TikTok have voiced worries about the First Amendment and the platform’s influence on small companies.
The law covers more than corporations; it includes entities linked to hostile foreign powers.
A Republican from Texas named Chip Roy—one of the bill’s primary sponsors—recently informed that lawmakers’ offices had been getting disturbing calls from people expressing suicidal intentions.
Proponents of the measure, including former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California, have repeatedly stressed that the bill’s goal is not to outright prohibit TikTok but rather to alleviate worries about the platform’s ties to China.
The plan has the full backing of the House GOP leadership.
