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Posted in: streaming, TV | Tagged: china, chine, house of representatives, social media, TikTok
TikTok Inches Closer to U.S. Ban After House of Representatives Vote
With a vote of 360-58, the U.S. House of Representatives approved a bill making the possibility of TikTok being banned in the U.S. a reality.
Article Summary
- U.S. House votes 360-58, advancing a bill that could ban TikTok nationwide.
- Bill ties TikTok's fate to foreign aid legislation for Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan.
- TikTok may avoid ban if ByteDance divests, with a new one-year deadline.
- TikTok spokesperson slams the potential ban as an attack on free speech.
With a final vote of 360-58 (and an amendment vote of 249-267), the U.S. House of Representatives passed foreign aid bills that will bring financial assistance to Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan, require the Treasury Department to submit a report on Iranian assets & sanction exemptions – and essentially ban TikTok in the United States unless Chinese owner ByteDance divests its stake in the app over growing concerns that TikTok has become a national security threat. Different from last month's "Protecting Americans From Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act" that was passed by the House and sent to the Senate, today's bills find the move against the social media app attached to important foreign aid support. In addition, some concerns about last month's bill are addressed in what was passed today – including giving ByteDance a year to find a new TikTok owner, an increase from the previous six-month time limit.
"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," said TikTok spokesman Alex Haurek in a statement not long after the final vote count was announced, condemning the bill as unconstitutional.
While President Joseph Biden has already promised to sign the bill into law if it reaches his desk, its future is far from certain. First, there are the expected legal challenges from TikTok and others over First Amendment issues – arguing that millions of users are having their freedom of expression infringed upon over security concerns that have been expressed but haven't been factually proven to exist. According to TikTok, approximately 60% of ByteDance is held by "global institutional investors," which include BlackRock, General Atlantic, Susquehanna International Group, and Sequoia – with 20% owned by the company's Chinese founders and 20% owned by other employees.
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