Header Ads

US House passes bill that may lead to ban TikTok in the States

OPPO
Infinix
US Congress passed a bill that could lead to a ban on TikTok in the states.

TikTok could face a ban in the US!

The U.S. House of Representatives easily passed a bill yesterday that would give TikTok's Chinese owner ByteDance around 6 months to divest the U.S. assets of the short clip app or deal with a ban, the app's most severe threat since the Trump administration.

The law passed 352-65 with an overpowering bipartisan vote, but it has a more dubious route in the Senate, where some want a different approach to regulating foreign-owned apps that raise security concerns. Senator Chuck Schumer, the Senate Majority Leader, stated that the proposal will be reviewed.
TikTok logo
TikTok logo

According to the No.2 House Republican Steve Scalise, he said in his X account that TikTok is a critical national security issue and that the Senate must do something about the bill and pass it.

The likely future of TikTok which has around 170 million American users, has become a big concern in Washington. Lawmakers mentioned that their offices had received huge counts of calls from young TikTok users who oppose the legislation.

"We want to see Senate take swift action, said White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre"

If the bill is signed into law it will to a band on TikTok in the United States and would take billions of dollars out of the pockets of creators and small businesses. It will put 300,000 American jobs at risk, said TikTok CEO Shou Zi, TikTok will not stop fighting and will exercise its legal rights to prevent the ban, he added.

The legislation is the latest in a series of steps taken by Washington to address national security worries about China, ranging from linked automobiles to powerful artificial intelligence chips to cranes at US ports.

The political climate also seems to shift in the US's favor, even President Joe Biden has mentioned he would sign it.

Do we want TikTok, as a platform, to be owned by an American company or owned by China? Do we want the data from TikTok - children's data, adults’ data -to be going, to be staying here in America or going to China?, said Jake Sullivan, White House National Security adviser.

Meanwhile, Former President Donald Trump, who formerly advocated for the platform's prohibition, has since shifted his views, while Democrats are under pressure from young progressives, for whom TikTok remains a popular social media platform.

Finally, According to antitrust experts, the market for social media services is highly consolidated, making it difficult for TikTok to find a buyer acceptable to US competition regulators.

What do you guys think?

Sources: CNN, Reuters

No comments

Powered by Blogger.
close
gizguide