The House of Representatives advanced a bill on Saturday that could lead to a ban on TikTok in the United States. The bill forces TikTok's Chinese owner, ByteDance, to sell the platform within about a year or face a total ban in the United States. Previous versions of the legislation gave ByteDance just six months to find a new owner, Business Insider reports.
The Tik Tok platform risks being banned in the US. photo shutterstock (Archive)
To speed up passage of the bipartisan legislation, House Speaker Mike Johnson combined it with a bill that would allow the US to seize Russian assets, then included it in a package containing bills on aid to Taiwan , Israel and Ukraine, which have been delayed for months amid infighting in Congress.
This legislative package will reach the Senate in a few days, where it is likely to be passed.
American politicians have for years raised concerns about TikTok's security, as ByteDance is required to share data with the Chinese government. TikTok has approximately 170 million users in the United States alone.
Towards the end of his term as president, Donald Trump tried to ban the app. He has since returned to the issue, arguing that TikTok's demise could strengthen Facebook's parent Meta, which he called “enemy of the people”.
President Joe Biden has signaled his intention to sign the bill into law next week if it passes the Senate. Even though the legislation could lead to a forced sale instead of an outright ban, TikTok's management fears the worst and expects to challenge it in court. Legal challenges could also come from TikTok users and creators.
“This legislation has a predetermined outcome: a total ban on TikTok in the United States” a ByteDance spokesperson said last month.
