TikTok is in the news once again, and this time due to legislation that could lead to the ban of the famous and controversial short video-sharing app in the U.S. if it doesn’t cut ties with its Beijing-based parent company, ByteDance.
TikTok May Get Banned In The U.S.
On Thursday, the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee unanimously voted to approve a bipartisan bill that would require China’s ByteDance to sell TikTok within 180 days or effectively face a ban in the U.S.
The bill called “Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act” was first introduced on March 5, 2024, by Reps. Mike Gallagher, R-Wis., and Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Ill. This bill aims to “protect the national security of the United States from the threat posed by foreign adversary controlled applications” like TikTok.
Further, the bill was advanced on a unanimous bipartisan vote, 50-0, on Thursday in the House Energy and Commerce Committee.
If the bill gets passed, it will allow the U.S. President to identify and designate ByteDance-controlled apps, including TikTok, as not available in Apple or Google app stores or on web hosting services in the U.S. unless it cuts all ties with the foreign adversarial country within 180 days.
U.S. President Joe Biden also confirmed his support for the bill advancing through Congress on Friday. “If they pass it, I’ll sign it,” Biden told reporters at Joint Base Andrews.
The legislation is the latest threat to the app, which roughly 170 million Americans have downloaded despite unresolved fears that TikTok may present a Chinese government spying risk and pose a severe threat to U.S. national security.
However, TikTok has repeatedly denied that the app has ever been used to share U.S. user data with Chinese authorities and will not do so if asked to.
“This bill is an outright ban of TikTok, no matter how much the authors try to disguise it. This legislation will trample the First Amendment rights of 170 million Americans and deprive 5 million small businesses of a platform they rely on to grow and create jobs,” TikTok said in an emailed statement.
