House lawmakers on Wednesday ordered ByteDance, which is affiliated with the Chinese Communist Party, to withdraw from TikTok within six months, despite mounting national security concerns and outcry from passionate fans. , passed to force popular social media apps to be banned in the United States.
The Protecting Americans from Applications Controlled by Foreign Enemies Act, which passed 352-65, would require ByteDance to sell TikTok within six months of the bill’s enactment, allowing companies like Google and Apple to TikTok is prohibited from providing web hosting based in the United States or making TikTok available in the United States. App store if no sale takes place.
Additionally, the bill gives the Biden administration the power to ban apps associated with four hostile countries: China, Iran, North Korea, and Russia. To ban these apps, government agencies would have to agree on the threat and submit evidence to Congress.
It is estimated that more than 100 million Americans use TikTok on a regular basis, and the company has fiercely opposed the bill, calling it a “total ban” in name only.
“The government is trying to strip 170 million Americans of their constitutional right to free expression” TikTok stated in a statement last week.
“This will harm millions of businesses, deny audiences to artists, and destroy the livelihoods of countless creators across the country.”
China does not allow the use of Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and many other U.S. social media platforms within its borders. Nevertheless, the Chinese government has slammed U.S. lawmakers considering the measure.
“In recent years, the United States has never found any evidence that TikTok poses a threat to U.S. national security, but we have never stopped pursuing TikTok,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said.
President Biden signed legislation in 2022 that would ban TikTok from government devices except for certain law enforcement-related reasons, and has indicated he would sign the bill if it passes the Senate.
Supporters of the measure cite China’s national security policy. This provision states that “all organizations and citizens shall support, assist, and cooperate with national intelligence operations.”
National security experts in particular are concerned that China could gain access to TikTok users’ browsing history, biometric identifiers, location information, and more.
“We can’t just put a Chinese-owned radio tower in the middle of Washington, D.C. and broadcast Chinese propaganda,” Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-Texas) said before the vote.
“Millions of Americans are hooked on TikTok, so that’s exactly what TikTok is for,” he added. “China can absolutely manipulate those algorithms.”
House China Select Committee Chairman Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.), who proposed the bill, argued that the bill only calls for a “forced separation” of ByteDance and TikTok, not a ban.
Earlier this year, TikTok CEO Hsu Chu pledged $1.5 billion to so-called “Project Texas,” which aims to funnel U.S. data to servers run by Oracle. .
“We have not requested any data from the Chinese government, and we have never provided it,” Chu told the Senate Judiciary Committee.
But lawmakers and national security experts were not convinced.
“US intelligence agencies cannot rule out the possibility that the Chinese Communist Party is involved in the misinformation campaign on TikTok. But don’t take my word for it, @FBI Director Wray and @ODNIgov Director Haines Just ask,” Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.), a ranking member of the China Committee, posted on X Tuesday.
Former President Donald Trump, whose administration tried to ban TikTok in 2020, reversed course and opposed the current bill.
“You can make Facebook big without TikTok, and I think Facebook is the enemy of the people,” President Trump said Monday on CNBC’s “Squawk Box.”
“There’s a lot of people who love TikTok. There’s a lot of young kids on TikTok who would be hooked on it without it.”
Libertarian-leaning Republicans, including Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) and Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), slammed the policy and warned it would be a slippery slope.
“The so-called TikTok ban is a Trojan horse. The president will be given the power to ban not just apps, but websites as well. Those who violate the new law are not ‘foreign adversaries,’ but rather US (or offshore) internet It is considered a hosting service or an App Store,” Massey posted on X Tuesday.
Several prominent progressives expressed similar concerns.
“I am against the TikTok bill that is about to be voted on. I believe this bill will ban TikTok, it’s a First Amendment right. [sic] I see problems in taking away a platform used by over 170 million Americans. [sic] This does not solve serious data privacy problems,” Rep. Maxwell Frost (D-Florida) posted on X.
Frost also publicly suggested that a bill forcing ByteDance to leave TikTok could alienate young voters and create complications for Democrats in the 2024 election.
Ultimately, 50 Democrats joined 15 Republicans in opposing the bill. One Democratic member voted “now.”
Elon Musk, the technology guru who owns Company X, also opposed the measure.
“This law isn’t just about TikTok; it’s about censorship and government control. If it were just about TikTok, it would only cite ‘foreign control’ as an issue, but that’s not the case.” he said.
Other groups, including the ACLU, have also expressed First Amendment concerns about the policy, raising the possibility that Biden would face significant challenges in court if he signs it into law.
