The House of Representatives is scheduled to vote as soon as Saturday on a bill to force a sale or outright ban on Chinese-owned TikTok, after Speaker Mike Johnson suggested the bill would be bundled with a foreign aid package for Ukraine and Israel. That’s what it means.
The amended version of the expedited bill would give Beijing-based ByteDance up to a year to sell its stake in TikTok or be banned in the United States, Bloomberg reported. This is an increase from the six-month grace period in the original version of the bill, which overwhelmingly passed the House last month.
House lawmakers are expected to pass the omnibus bill this weekend, with a vote in the Senate likely next week. President Biden has already indicated that he intends to sign the TikTok ban and sale bill once it reaches his desk.
The extended timeline could help appease the bill’s critics in the Senate, some of whom argue the six-month deadline is too narrow to complete the sale.
Senate Commerce Committee Chairwoman Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) said she had expressed some concerns about the bill but now supports it.
“I am very pleased that Speaker Johnson and the House leadership have taken my proposal to extend the ByteDance sale from six months to one year,” Cantwell said in a statement. “As I have said, the sale period needs to be extended to allow a new buyer sufficient time to complete the transaction. I support this latest bill.”
Some experts had expressed skepticism that the Senate would vote on the bill before the November 2024 election, risking upsetting supporters of the popular app.
Lawmakers from both parties are calling for a crackdown on TikTok over concerns that the app, which has more than 170 million U.S. users, could be used as a spying and propaganda tool by the Chinese government. TikTok officials deny any wrongdoing.
A recent report released by U.S. intelligence officials found that TikTok plays a role in “malign influence operations,” and that “accounts run by China’s propaganda arm are likely to be used during the 2022 U.S. midterm elections.” They reportedly targeted candidates from both political parties.”
TikTok has vowed to fight any forced sales in court. The company has argued that the House bill is a de facto ban and that even if it intended to sell, it would not be able to complete the deal within six months.
“Let the House of Representatives use the cover of critical foreign and humanitarian aid to once again block a ban that would trample the free speech rights of 170 million Americans, destroy 7 million businesses, and shut down platforms. TikTok said in a statement about the latest push.
Some potential buyers have already emerged as the bill moves through Congress.
As The Post reported earlier this week, former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin is partnering with one or more companies with expertise in artificial intelligence to acquire TikTok and rebuild its recommendation algorithm in the U.S. I am considering doing so.
Mnuchin believes that rebuilding the app will help his group of potential buyers address U.S. security concerns and China’s strict technology export laws, the people said. .
Experts said cloud computing and AI giant Oracle would be a logical partner in Mnuchin’s bid.
Last month, the Wall Street Journal reported that former Activision Blizzard president Bobby Kotick had met with ByteDance executives about a possible sale.
In other places, Politico reported Officials at the Chinese embassy in Washington recently met with aides in Congress to lobby against a bill banning the sale of TikTok.
