TikTok is dancing on thin ice in the US… with the House voting to ban the popular social media app – unless its parent company, Beijing-based ByteDance, sells its stake.
The vote took place on Wednesday and was a landslide victory – 352 to 65 – in favor of the ban… a rare moment of bipartisan agreement, with 197 Republicans and 155 Democrats giving the green light, citing Chinese ownership of the app as a major threat to national security.
US House APPROVES bill forcing TikTok to divest from China or face US ban, 352-65. pic.twitter.com/K8NrCw50ti
-CSPAN (@cspan) March 13, 2024
@cspan
The House wasted no time on the legislation — dubbed the Protecting Americans from Controlled Applications from Foreign Adversaries Act — but TikTok’s future still hangs in the balance… as it still needs to pass the Senate, and then to Joe Biden.
TikTok bill lead sponsor Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-WI) admits the real reason they’re rushing to ban TikTok – because it’s “becoming the dominant news platform for Americans under 30” and the US government does not control it is like other platforms pic.twitter.com/MQcD3PQd51
-Michael Tracey (@mtracey) March 13, 2024
@mtracey
This current bill gives ByteDance a strict ultimatum: sell TikTok and its other apps within six months or face the curtailment of US app stores and other web hosting services.
Lawmakers have long sweated fears that the Chinese government might force ByteDance to hand over the data of its staggering 170 million American users — even though TikTok has vehemently denied that it is spying on US citizens.
Representative. Dan Crenshaw pulled no punches before the vote, saying… “TikTok is owned by ByteDance. ByteDance is in China and when you’re in China, you have to do whatever the Chinese Communist Party tells you what to do.”
He added: “If they want you to spy for them, you will spy for them; that’s how it works”.
However, Liu Pengyuspokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in Washington, is accusing the US of running a smear campaign to bring down the China-based company – adding in a statement that the US “was unable to provide concrete evidence to prove the so-called threats”. from TikTok to US national security.”
FWIW, Biden is promising to put pen to paper on the bill if it reaches his desk. However, it will be difficult to see if this project will actually be valid, especially since TikTok has survived previous ban attempts. We’re sure influencers are shaking their heads!