House Passes a Bill That Could Ban TikTok in the United States

TikTok is a famous and widely used social media platform owned by the parent company ByteDance. ByteDance, founded in 2012 in Beijing, has offices in the US and Europe and is registered in the Cayman Islands.

Let’s read the news and find out why TikTok is getting banned.

House Passes a Bill That Could Ban TikTok in the United States

On Wednesday, the US House of Representatives passed a bill that could ban TikTok in the United States.

The House passed the bill with 352 to 65 votes. Fifty Democrats and fifteen Republicans voted against the bill.

Even though the bill was passed with overwhelming support from Republicans and Democrats, it still needs to pass the Senate and be signed into law by the president.

President Joe Biden has stated he would sign the law if it reaches his desk. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer announced that the chamber will review the legislation.

The bill’s supporters have expressed concerns that TikTok might threaten national security greatly because the Chinese government may use its intelligence laws to force ByteDance to turn over US user data.

A national security law in China mandates that Chinese businesses provide data to the government upon demand.

A January Wall Street Journal investigation also discovered that data was still unofficially transferred between ByteDance in China and TikTok in the US, making the system “porous.”

To convince regulators, TikTok has taken steps to guarantee that the data of 150 million US customers is kept away from ByteDance employees in China.

Shou Zi Chew, the CEO of TikTok, stated that the firm was dedicated to maintaining the platform “free from outside manipulation” and its data security.

ByteDance, the Chinese parent firm of the social media platform TikTok, has been given six months to sell its majority ownership in the app or face having it blocked in the United States.

TikTok, a social media network used by over 170 million Americans, is not separate from ByteDance; the bill would ban it from US app stores.

Under the bill, ByteDance would have approximately five months to sell TikTok.

If it doesn’t divest before the given time frame, then operators of app stores, like Apple and Google, would not be allowed to distribute it for download.

According to antitrust experts, TikTok may have difficulty finding a buyer who would be accepted by US competition regulators.

Beijing has also pledged to oppose a forced divestiture, which ByteDance would need Chinese officials’ approval to finalize.

A spokesman for the Chinese foreign ministry stated, “Although the United States has never found evidence that TikTok threatens US national security, it has not stopped suppressing TikTok.”

“This kind of bullying behavior that cannot win in fair competition disrupts companies’ normal business activity, damages the confidence of international investors in the investment environment, and damages the normal international economic and trade order.”

We must also know that even if ByteDance successfully gets approval to sell its TikTok ownership, it is questionable whether competing companies will have the capital to bid for the app.

The business previously valued the app at about $268 billion; it is speculated that the cost could frighten the investors. At the same time, it is also believed that a potential buyer could be in the market.