US HOUSE PASSES BILL THAT WOULD BAN TIKTOK AMID US-CHINA RIVALRY

TikTok users watch the House vote during a protest outside the Capitol in Washington, DC

Thu 14 March 2024:

In a latest blow to big tech and China, the US House of Representatives passed a bill by an overwhelming majority that would outlaw the social networking site TikTok nationwide.

The law was overwhelmingly supported by both parties, with a vote of 352 in favor and 65 against. It now moves to the Senate, which has 100 members, where its future is less certain. For his part, President Joe Biden has said he would sign the bill into law if it reached his desk.

If that happened, TikTok’s Chinese owner ByteDance would be given about six months to divest from its US assets or see its video-sharing app banned in the US.

If the bill were to be passed into law, ByteDance would have six months to divest before a ban would be imposed. A sale in that amount of time is possible, but the timeline would be tight for such a large acquisition.

Failure to comply with the deadline would mean that US-based app stores could not legally offer TikTok or provide web-hosting services for ByteDance-controlled applications.

The legislation stems from concerns that ByteDance is beholden to the Chinese government. Government officials have expressed fears that the data TikTok collects from its roughly 170 million American users could pose a national security threat.

Recent national security laws passed in China, which can compel organisations to assist with intelligence gathering, have further buoyed those concerns.

Bytedance, however, has repeatedly maintained it operates independently of the Chinese government.

Speaking on Wednesday, US Representative Cathy McMorris Rodgers said the legislation has “given TikTok a clear choice”.

“Separate from your parent company ByteDance, which is beholden to the CCP [the Chinese Communist Party], and remain operational in the United States, or side with the CCP and face the consequences,” she said. “The choice is TikTok’s.”

Opponents of Wednesday’s bill cited concerns about freedom of speech and called the move a knee-jerk effort that falls short of meaningful reform.

Meanwhile, both Republican and Democratic legislators reported a flood of calls from TikTok users in opposition to the legislation.

Voted NO on the TikTok bill.

Not only are there 1st amendment concerns, this is bad policy.

We should create actual standards & regulations around privacy violations across social media companies—not target platforms we don’t like.

— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) March 13, 2024

Several TikTok supporters, including prominent content creators on the platform, gathered in front of the US Capitol on Wednesday in advance of the vote. The company also issued a statement opposing the vote.

“This process was secret, and the bill was jammed through for one reason: It’s a ban,” TikTok spokesperson Alex Haurek said in a statement.

“We are hopeful that the Senate will consider the facts, listen to their constituents, and realise the impact on the economy, seven million small businesses and the 170 million Americans who use our service.”

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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