After India US set to ban TikTok
The US has set to ban the popular Chinese social media app TikTok in US for the US House passes Bill asking ByteDance to sell the popular video app or divest assets to avoid the ban
Major setback for the TikTok
The legislation threatens to be a major setback for the video-sharing app, which has surged in popularity across the world while causing nervousness about its Chinese ownership and its potential subservience to the Communist Party in Beijing.
The lawmakers voted 352 in favor of the proposed law and 65 against, in a rare moment of bipartisan unity in politically divided Washington.
The fate of the bill is uncertain in the Senate, where some key figures are apprehensive of making such a drastic move against an app that has 170 million US users.
Joe Biden will sign the bill
President Joe Biden will sign the bill, known officially as the “Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act,” into law if it came to his desk, the White House has said.
The measure, which only gained momentum in the past few days, requires TikTok’s parent company ByteDance to sell the app within 180 days or see it barred from the Apple and Google app stores in the United States.
Resurgent campaign against TikTok is surprise one
The resurgent campaign by Washington against TikTok came as a surprise to the company, the Wall Street Journal reported, with TikTok executives reassured when Biden joined the app last month as part of his campaign for a second term.
🇺🇸🇨🇳 Who Is REALLY behind the TikTok ban? (🇮🇱)
TikTok has 103 million monthly active users in the US.
More than 1/3 (37.36%) of mobile internet users actively engage with TikTok.
Half of TikTok’s US users are between the age of 10 and 29, with teens making up the bulk of the… pic.twitter.com/bL4o1eubYu
— Censored Men (@CensoredMen) March 13, 2024
United States has no evidence that TikTok is security threat
“Although the United States has never found evidence that TikTok threatens US national security, it has not stopped suppressing TikTok. This kind of bullying behaviour 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. In the end, this will inevitably come back to bite the United States itself,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin had cautioned ahead of the vote.
TikTok CEO trying to stop the bill
TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew is in Washington, trying to shore up support to stop the bill.
“This latest legislation being rushed through at unprecedented speed without even the benefit of a public hearing, poses serious Constitutional concerns,” wrote Michael Beckerman, TikTok’s vice president for public policy.
The co-sponsors, House Republican Mike Gallagher and House Democrat Raja Krishnamoorthi, as well as the White House, argue that the bill is not a ban of TikTok, as long as the company divests from ByteDance.
China warned United States
China warned on Wednesday that the move will “inevitably come back to bite the United States.”
“Although the United States has never found evidence that TikTok threatens US national security, it has not stopped suppressing TikTok,” foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said, condemning it as “bullying behavior.”
Republican lawmakers approved the bill, in an unusual act of defiance against Donald Trump.
Trump said he is against a ban of TikTok
In a turnaround from his earlier stance, Trump on Monday said he was against a ban, mainly because it would strengthen Meta, the owner of Instagram and Facebook, which he called an “enemy of the people.”
When Trump was president, he attempted to wrest control of Tiktok from ByteDance, but was blocked by US courts.
Trump denied accusations that he changed his tune because a major investor in TikTok, hedge funder Jeff Yass, is donating to his 2024 election campaign.