House Votes To Pass TikTok Ban Bill, Now It’s up to the Senate

On Wednesday, the United States House of Representatives passed a bipartisan bill aimed at banning TikTok in the United States. Now the bill moves to the Senate, and if it passes, it will force TikTok’s Chinese owner to sell the popular video app, or else it will be banned in the U.S.

The House vote for the bill, known as the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, was 352 to 65, according to CNN, with only “50 Democrats and 15 Republicans voting in opposition.” 

The proposed legislation comes amidst concerns raised by lawmakers and experts regarding the potential risks associated with TikTok’s operations, particularly concerning data privacy, national security, and the platform’s impact on users, especially minors.

The bill has attracted immense bipartisan support, reflecting a growing consensus among policymakers that stricter regulation of social media platforms may be necessary to address emerging challenges in the digital landscape. Proponents of the ban argue that TikTok — owned by ByteDance, which is headquartered in Beijing — poses significant threats to user privacy and national security due to its ties to China.

Critics of the proposed ban, however, raise concerns about the potential consequences for free speech and innovation, highlighting the need for a balanced approach to addressing the issues associated with TikTok and other social media platforms. Both TikTok creators and Beijing have criticized the bill, “with China’s foreign ministry calling it an ‘act of bullying.’”

If fully passed, the bill would “give ByteDance roughly five months to sell TikTok. If not divested by that time, it would be illegal for app store operators such as Apple and Google to make it available for download.”

Now TikTok is looking at the Senate, which seems to be moving more slowly than the House. “We are hopeful that the Senate will consider the facts, listen to their constituents, and realize the impact on the economy, 7 million small businesses, and the 170 million Americans who use our service,” a TikTok spokesperson said in a statement. If the Senate does pass the bill, President Biden has already stated he will sign it.

One surprising twist is Donald Trump’s opposition to the ban. He has pushed back against it since the bill was announced last week, saying that although he thought TikTok posed a national security threat to the U.S., “You have that problem with Facebook and lots of other companies too,” and “There are a lot of people on TikTok that love it.”

According to CNN, lawmakers in support of the bill have argued that it isn’t an actual ban. “It puts the choice squarely in the hands of TikTok to sever their relationship with the Chinese Communist Party,” Wisconsin Republican Rep. Mike Gallagher stated. “As long as ByteDance no longer owns the company, TikTok can continue to survive.”

But TikTok thinks otherwise. In a statement on X, the social media platform stated, “This legislation has a predetermined outcome: a total ban of TikTok in the United States. The government is attempting to strip 170 million Americans of their Constitutional right to free expression. This will damage millions of businesses, deny artists an audience, and destroy the livelihoods of countless creators across the country.”