A bill banning TikTok in the US was overwhelmingly approved…
How the platform will stay active in the country – Ban passed by US House vote on $95 billion aid package for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan
The House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved a bill that would ban TikTok in the United States unless its Chinese owner sells it.
The ban passed with the vote on the $95 billion foreign aid package for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, and has received relatively little attention.
The TikTok bill was passed by 360 votes to 58.
Inside the 184-page sanctions bill is a provision that forces TikTok’s Chinese parent company ByteDance to sell its stake in the popular video platform to a US-based entity within a year or face a ban. Specifically, it gives ByteDance nine months to assign and gives the president the option to choose a three-month extension.
About 150 million Americans are on TikTok, and there are growing fears among lawmakers about the influence its Chinese owners have on the company. Lawmakers have raised national security and data privacy concerns with TikTok. Supporters of the social networking app have questioned the constitutionality of limiting Americans’ free speech rights.
In recent months, TikTok has made headlines for promoting Osama bin Laden and urging young users to strangle each other.
Wall Street has been buzzing about who could buy TikTok in the event of a forced sale of shares by Chinese owner ByteDance. Microsoft, Meta, Apple and Oracle have been touted as potential suitors. Rumble, a free-speech-oriented competitor to YouTube, has also been discussed as a potential buyer.
One obstacle is the large scale of the market. The social networking company was previously valued at as much as $50 billion.
In March, the House passed a similar TikTok bill, which passed the chamber with a broad bipartisan majority. That effort, however, has stalled in the Democratic Senate, where Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has so far refused to bring the measure to a vote. The Senate leader said he would take up the issue eventually.
Schumer has previously strongly supported efforts to limit TikTok’s influence.
With the TikTok ban now buried in the foreign aid package — widely considered urgent legislation to pass — the Senate will likely have no choice but to take up the measure. Senate leaders vowed to move the measure quickly and deliver it to President Biden for his signature.