TikTok’s days may be numbered after the House approved legislation Saturday that would ban the popular social media app nationwide unless its Chinese owners sell.
Under the measure, which passed on a bipartisan 360-to-58 vote, TikTok’s parent company ByteDance has up to a year to divest before the prohibition begins.
President Joe Biden has already expressed support for the effort, which Speaker Mike Johnson attached to a larger foreign aid package that includes three bills that separately provides billions for Ukraine, Israel and the Indo-Pacific region.
A previous version passed by the House earlier this year gave ByteDance six months to sell, but that plan stalled in the Senate. Given that this measure is attached to the foreign aid package, it will be difficult for Congress’ upper chamber to ignore.
Roughly 170 million Americans use TikTok, which has sparked a major debate in the country that has pitted First Amendment advocates against those with growing national security concerns.
“It is unfortunate that the House of Representatives is using the cover of important foreign and humanitarian assistance to once again jam through a ban bill that would trample the free speech rights of 170 million Americans, devastate 7 million businesses, and shutter a platform that contributes $24 billion to the U.S. economy, annually,” TikTok said Saturday in statement to USA Today.
Free speech v. national security concerns
Critics have argued for more than a year how ByteDance could hand over a user’s personal information to China and its communist-led government.
As of yet there is no public evidence that the app is being used to spy on U.S. citizens, but Forbes Magazine reported this month how TikTok had mishandled the data for top advertisers.
Those who oppose the legislation, such as U.S. Sen. Rand Paul, say it will unconstitutionally restrict Americans’ free speech rights, and could impact small business owners who benefit from using the platform.
If the ban takes hold it would mark the first time the U.S. government has shut down an entire social media app, which is likely to ignite a legal battle in the courts.
A Pew Research poll released last December showed 38% of Americans supported banning TikTok compared to 27% who oppose and 35% who are unsure about the idea. That is down when compared to the 50% who said Congress should get rid of the app in March last year.
The survey also found those attitudes flip when U.S. adults under age 30 were asked. Among younger Americans, 41% oppose a ban versus 29% who support and 30% who remain unsure.
