The US House of Representatives passed a bill on Saturday that could ban TikTok in the country or force its sale. A revised version of the bill, which previously passed the House in March but then stalled in the Senate, was this time accompanied by a foreign aid package, likely meaning it will now be treated as a higher priority issue. . The bill originally gave TikTok's Chinese parent company, ByteDance, six months to sell the app if it was passed into law or TikTok would be banned from US app stores. Under the revised version, ByteDance would have up to a year to divest.
The bill passed with a vote of 360 to 58 in the House, according to AP. It will now go to the Senate, which could vote on it in a matter of days. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said today That the Senate is working to reach an agreement on when the next vote will be on the foreign aid package to which the TikTok bill is attached, but it is expected to happen next Tuesday. President Joe Biden has previously said he would support the bill if Congress passes it.
The bill presents TikTok as a national security threat due to its ties to China. There are approximately 170 million American users on the app, at least according to x.com/TikTokPolicy/status/1780777424109604894″ rel=”nofollow noopener” target=”_blank” data-ylk=”slk:TikTok;elm:context_link;elmt:doNotAffiliate;cpos:5;pos:1;itc:0;sec:content-canvas”>Tik Tok, and ByteDance is not expected to let them go without a fight. In a statement published in x.com/TikTokPolicy/status/1780777424109604894″ rel=”nofollow noopener” target=”_blank” data-ylk=”slk:x;cpos:6;pos:1;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas” class=”link “>x Earlier this week, the TikTok Policy account said such a law would “trample the free speech rights” of these users, “devastate 7 million businesses and shut down a platform that contributes $24 billion to the economy.” American annually.” Critics of the bill have also argued that banning TikTok would do little to protect Americans' data.
