A bill currently in the House would restrict TikTok’s use in the United States. ByteDance, the Chinese company that owns the well-known app, would be required to prove American ownership of the app within a year or risk domestic prohibition.
House Speaker Mike Johnson combined the TikTok-focused bill with another one that would have made it easier to seize Russian assets to promote bipartisan efforts. Subsequently, this unified legislation was packaged with aid packages for Taiwan, Israel, and Ukraine that congressional disputes had delayed. The package is anticipated to be approved by the Senate in the near future. This comes after the Senate approved a $95.3 billion package that was identical to the one that had the TikTok provision in February.
Security concerns over TikTok have persisted among American politicians, fueled by ByteDance’s data-sharing obligations to the Chinese government, despite TikTok boasting an estimated 170 million users in the US alone. Former President Donald Trump previously pursued a TikTok ban during his tenure. However, he has since shifted his stance, suggesting that TikTok’s downfall could benefit Meta, referring to it as “an enemy of the people.”
President Joe Biden has stated that he is prepared to sign the law should it pass the Senate despite possible legal challenges. Though the legislation would result in a forced sale instead of an outright ban, TikTok’s management expects legal disputes, including objections from its creators and users. Concerns were raised by a ByteDance representative last month, who said, “This legislation has a predetermined outcome: a total ban of TikTok in the United States.”
This legislation’s development essentially highlights continuous efforts to address national security concerns about TikTok, which may impact the company’s ownership structure and market share in the US. Bipartisan momentum points to a substantial change in the regulatory environment for social media sites, notwithstanding expected legal obstacles.
