US House Passes Bill That Could Ban TikTok Nationwide
The US Government’s House of Representatives has recently passed a bill that could lead to a nationwide ban on TikTok.
US members of congress acted on concerns that the company's current ownership structure is a national security threat. The vote was a landslide, with 352 Congress members voting in favor and only 65 against and now goes to Senate.
This bill requires the Chinese tech giant ByteDance to sell its stake in the TikTok app within six months or face a ban from US app stores and web hosting platforms.
The vote in the House represents the most concrete threat to TikTok in an ongoing political battle over allegations the China-based company could collect sensitive user data and politically censor content.
TikTok has repeatedly stated it has not and would not share US user data with the Chinese government.
It follows previous efforts by American authorities to limit access to the app, citing national security risks.
The bill's fate in the Senate is unclear, but President Joe Biden says he will sign the bill into law if it reaches his desk.
A TikTok spokesperson said the bill was a "ban" and urged senators to listen to their constituents before taking any action.
Lawmakers say TikTok's owner ByteDance has links with the Chinese Communist Party - something denied by ByteDance and TikTok.
Trump pushes back on potential TikTok ban
Former President Donald Trump unsuccessfully tried to ban the app when he was in the White House in 2020.
But Trump has criticised the new bill, saying limiting TikTok would unfairly benefit Facebook.
Trump said he thought TikTok posed a national security threat to the US but said, “You have that problem with Facebook and lots of other companies too,” and “There are a lot of people on TikTok that love it.”
“There’s, you know, a lot of good, and there’s a lot of bad with TikTok,” Trump said.
BBC | The Guardian | Standard | CNN | Washington Post | AP News
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