The US Senate voted in favour of a bill to possibly ban TikTok in the US. The lawmakers are worried that the Chinese company that owns it might be a security risk. If TikTok’s owner, ByteDance, failed to divest the popular short video app, it could get banned. Once the bill is signed into law, ByteDance will have 270 days to divest TikTok in the US.
Lawmakers are worried that China could access Americans’ data or use the app for surveillance.
The US House of Representatives passed the bill on Saturday.
US President Joe Biden has said he will sign and make it a law on Wednesday, according to Reuters.
“For years we’ve allowed the Chinese Communist Party to control one of the most popular apps in America that was dangerously shortsighted. A new law is going to require its Chinese owner to sell the app. This is a good move for America,” said Senator Marco Rubio, the top Republican on the Intelligence Committee, reported news agency Reuters.
When asked about the Senate’s decision, the Chinese foreign ministry referred on Wednesday to their earlier statements from March when the House of Representatives passed a similar bill.
At the time, the ministry criticised the legislation, arguing “though the US has never found any evidence of TikTok posing a threat to the US’s national security, it has never stopped going after TikTok,” reported Reuters.
TIKTOK TO CHALLENGE THE BAN
TikTok, which 170 million people in the US use, is a short-form video hosting service owned by Chinese internet company ByteDance.
The four-year TikTok dispute is just a part of the broader tech conflict between the US and China.
Recently, Apple stated that Beijing instructed them to take down Meta Platforms’ WhatsApp and Threads from its China App Store due to Chinese national security concerns.
TikTok plans to contest the bill based on First Amendment rights, and users are likely to pursue legal action as well.
A US judge in Montana in November blocked a state ban on TikTok, citing free speech grounds.
The company says it doesn’t share user data with the Chinese government and plans to go to court quicly to block the legislation.
“This is the beginning, not the end of this long process,” TikTok told staff on Saturday in an email seen by Reuters.
TIKTOK FUTURE IN US UNCERTAIN
Even if the ban is upheld, ByteDance will have some time to sell its US operations.
However, experts say finding a buyer could be difficult and take a long time. Senator Ed Markey said, “A sale would likely be one of the most complex transactions in history.”
The Senate voted 79 to 18 in favour of the bill, which was attached to a measure to provide $95 billion in mostly military aid for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan.
If TikTok is banned, it would be unavailable on app stores and users wouldn’t be able to access it through web browsers.
This could have a major impact on the millions of Americans who use the app.
Some lawmakers worry the bill sets a dangerous precedent for government control over social media.
Senator Ron Wyden, a Democrat, said, “provides broad authority that could be abused by a future administration to violate Americans’ First Amendment rights.”
Once the bill is signed into law, TikTok will get only 270 days to divest it from the US.
The bill now goes to President Biden, who is expected to sign it into law.
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