With a resounding vote, the House of Representatives approved a bill that, absentee ownership by Chinese company ByteDance, would prohibit the distribution or hosting of TikTok in the United States, so preventing the program from reaching its over 170 million American users.
This is the first time that an online app is being made illegal by a congressional bill. Numerous American politicians view TikTok as a threat to national security and are concerned that China may demand access to user data or otherwise force the app to further its own agenda.
In spite of opposition from certain lawmakers on both sides of the aisle, the “Protecting Americans From Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act” was approved by the House on Wednesday morning by a vote of 352-65.
That followed the bill’s expedited passage under a “suspension of the rules” timeline, which called for a two-thirds majority to pass. Despite receiving overwhelming support in the House, it is unknown how the measure will fare in the Senate because no related legislation is presently on the table.
President Biden has stated that he will sign the law should it come across his desk, despite the fact that his campaign for reelection just started the @bidenhq TikTok account last month on Super Bowl Sunday. In 2022, Biden signed a bill outlawing TikTok on the majority of US government equipment.
The measure is anticipated to encounter legal challenges upon enactment, possibly from TikTok among others. Previous attempts to outlaw TikTok in the United States have so far failed due to First Amendment concerns and the fact that judges have determined that legal challenges have only raised speculative threats to national security rather than providing concrete proof that TikTok has shared any information with Chinese authorities.
Tensions between the US and China would increase if an American ban from TikTok were to occur. Any forced sale of TikTok, according to Chinese authorities, would “firmly oppose” because it would “seriously undermine the confidence of investors from various countries, including China, to invest in the United States.”
The government would need to approve ByteDance’s selling of its TikTok stake since it would be considered a technology export, according to China’s trade ministry. The Center for Strategic and International Studies’ SVP James Lewis told the New York Times that ByteDance would not be forced to divest.
Representatives Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.) and Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.) filed the bill on March 5, and it was approved 50-0 by a House committee. The language of the bill (H.R. 7521) clearly mentions ByteDance’s TikTok and prohibits Apple and Google’s app stores and web hosting services in the United States from hosting any “foreign adversary controlled application.”
If a “foreign adversary” like ByteDance doesn’t give up control of the app (TikTok) within 165 days of the law’s passage, the ban will take effect. Furthermore, the measure grants the president of the United States discretion in deciding whether apps owned by adversarial foreign governments must comply with the divestiture requirement.
Gallagher, the head of the House Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party, introduced the measure and said, “This is my message to TikTok: break up with the Chinese Communist Party or lose access to your American users.”
The harsh penalties for breaking the TikTok prohibition would be $5,000 compounded by any American user found to have “accessed, maintained, or updated a foreign adversary controlled application.”
Following the voting, a representative of TikTok released a statement saying, “This was a secret process, and the bill was rammed through for one reason: It’s a ban based on zero evidence.” We hope that the Senate will take the information into account, pay attention to their constituents, and recognize the significance of the situation for the nation’s economy, 7 million small enterprises, and 170 million service users.
According to a BBC report, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin referred to the legislative action as “bullying behavior” that “damages the normal international economic and trade order” before to the House vote. “This will ultimately come back to bite the United States itself.”
After sending out a similar in-app message prior to last week’s House committee vote, TikTok sent out another one on Tuesday encouraging American users to contact their congressional representatives and express their opposition to the measure.
The message added, “Your voice can help the TikTok communities you love,” just like the one it issued last week. It allowed visitors to look out the local representative’s phone number by entering their ZIP code. A number of House members used TikTok’s user mobilization during its lobbying campaign as evidence of the platform’s strength and a compelling argument for the bill’s passage into law.
TikTok has made it clear time and time again that neither the Chinese Communist Party nor any other state body owns or controls the platform. According to TikTok, “global institutional investors” such as BlackRock, General Atlantic, Susquehanna International Group, and Sequoia own about 60% of ByteDance. The remaining 20% is owned by the Chinese founders of the company and the remaining 20% is owned by other employees.
Last year, TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew said that forcing ByteDance to give up its ownership of the app would not alter the company’s operations during a House committee hearing. “There wouldn’t be any additional limitations on data flows or access due to a change in ownership,” he stated. “All multinational corporations confront similar issues that require transparency and safeguards to be resolved.”
The majority leader of the Senate, Senator Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), has not promised to put a TikTok ban measure to a vote. Furthermore, Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) informed the Washington Post that he would veto any legislation that he deemed to be illegal. “I don’t think Congress should be attempting to deny [170] million Americans their First Amendment rights,” Paul declared.
As for the present push to stop TikTok or force its Chinese owners to sell their part in the app, Donald Trump has weighed in. As president, he tried in vain to persuade ByteDance to sell majority control in TikTok to U.S. owners.
“If you get rid of TikTok, Facebook and Zuckerschmuck will double their business,” he wrote on Truth Social last week, branding Facebook as “a true Enemy of the People.” While acknowledging that TikTok’s connections to China pose “a national security risk,” Trump emphasized in a Monday CNBC interview that a ban on the app by the US government would only benefit Facebook.
To be really honest, a lot of people adore TikTok. Trump stated on CNBC, “There are a lot of young kids on TikTok who will go crazy without it.” “The user base is large. TikTok has a lot of advantages as well as disadvantages. However, I find it annoying that Facebook can grow without TikTok, and I view Facebook and much of the media as enemies of the people.
