By a large majority, the House of Representatives approved a bill that, despite ownership by Chinese company ByteDance selling its stake in the well-known app, would make it unlawful to distribute or host TikTok in the United States, so preventing the service from reaching its 170 million American users.
This is the first time an internet app ban has been enacted by Congress. Many American politicians view TikTok as a threat to national security and are concerned that China’s government may demand access to the platform’s user data or use other means to force it to forward its own agenda. TikTok has stated time and time again that it will not comply with any demands made by the Chinese government and that the government has never made such demands.
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.
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 vote, a representative for 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 the Senate will take the information into account, pay attention to their constituents, and recognize the effects on the nation’s economy, 7 million small enterprises, and 170 million service users.
Wang Wenbin, a spokesman for the Chinese foreign ministry, described the legislative action as “bullying behavior” that “damages the normal international economic and trade order” before to the House vote, according to a BBC report. “This will eventually come back to haunt the United States of America itself.”
Tensions between the United States and China would rise if an American ban against TikTok were implemented. Any forced sale of TikTok would “seriously undermine the confidence of investors from various countries, including China to invest in the United States,” according to Chinese authorities, who also stated that the government would “firmly oppose” any such sale. China’s trade ministry stated that ByteDance’s selling of its ownership stake in TikTok would be considered a technological export and would require government permission. James Lewis, senior vice president of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told the New York Times that ByteDance will not be forced to divest.
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.
In the meantime, Donald Trump has chimed in on the current attempt to restrict TikTok or force its Chinese owners to sell their ownership in the app. As president, Trump tried in vain to force ByteDance to sell majority control in TikTok to U.S. owners. He called Facebook “a true Enemy of the People” in a post from last week on Truth Social, saying, “If you get rid of TikTok, Facebook and Zuckerschmuck will double their business.” Trump acknowledged in a CNBC interview on Monday that TikTok’s connections to China pose “a national security risk,” but he emphasized 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.
