The US Senate voted on Tuesday (April 23) to pass a bill to either ban TikTok or force its parent company ByteDance to sell it.
The bill gives ByteDance, a year to sell its stake or face deletion from US app stores.
Seventy-nine senators voted in favour of the bill and 18 against.
The bill passed in the House on Saturday by a margin of 360 to 58, as part of a foreign aid package for Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan.
US President Joe Biden will now receive the legislation, which he has said he would sign.
TikTok’s head of public policy for the Americas, Michael Beckerman, said his company would fight the legislation in court.
If the new federal law goes into effect without being blocked, Apple’s App Store and Google’s Play Store will have to stop offering TikTok for download or be penalised financially.
But why is the US trying to ban the platform and why is there outrage about this?
Why is the US trying to ban TikTok?
US members of Congress have acted on concerns that TikTok’s ownership structure is a national security threat.
One of the key concerns is that TikTok may be compelled to share user data with the Chinese government under China's national security laws. This has raised apprehensions among US policymakers about the potential misuse of personal data and the risk of espionage or other malicious activities.
Additionally, there are concerns about the influence and reach of TikTok, especially among younger users, and its potential to spread misinformation or propaganda. Some critics argue that TikTok's algorithmic content recommendation system could be used to manipulate public opinion or amplify certain narratives.
Congresswoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers said on April 23: “We have given TikTok a clear choice: separate from your parent company ByteDance, which is beholden to the CCP (the Chinese Communist Party), and remain operational in the United States, or side with the CCP and face the consequences. The choice is TikTok's.”
The Senate would also need to pass the measure for the bill to become law. Members of that chamber said it would undergo a thorough review. The American Civil Liberties Union opposed the bill on free speech grounds.
Users of the platform quickly took to X, formerly Twitter, to share their thoughts.
One user revealed what she would do with her time if TikTok were banned.
If they ban TikTok, how will I spend 10:30-11:30pm every night instead of going to bed?
— Sophie Vershbow (@svershbow) March 13, 2024
“Only 11:30? I wish I had your willpower,” another user replied.
Another person suggested that “an actual privacy bill would be infinitely more effective”.
The fact that they won’t try and pass an actual American data privacy bill that protects user data and instead tries to ban the apps that aren’t based in America is proof that this banning TikTok thing has never actually been about protecting citizens.
— MaceAhWindu 🇵🇸 (@MaceAhWindu) March 13, 2024
Others users said they felt other issues in the US had been neglected. They said banning TikTok would be a form of censorship against those who speak out against these issues.
Teachers underpaid, 0 gun laws to keep people safer, womens rights are being questioned, the LGBTQ+ community is constantly under attack…..but they got time to vote to ban TikTok pic.twitter.com/hpXxqfl4kr
— 💫 (@heyjaeee) March 13, 2024
The House of Representatives just passed a bill that could ban TikTok.
— Nina Turner (@ninaturner) March 13, 2024
Not raising the minimum wage.
Not lowering healthcare costs.
Not lowering housing costs.
Not lowering childcare costs.
TikTok.
they should ban genocide not TikTok
— #gaybaristapaulforpresident (@PaulSorrentino3) March 13, 2024
And there was more outrage.
One could reasonably wonder whether having 80+ year-olds writing our laws is a bigger threat to national security than TikTok.
— Ari Cohn (@AriCohn) March 14, 2024
Tiktok getting banned is gonna hurt a lot of content creators and even artists
— 💫AstralWingz💫 (@Zhane_Star) March 14, 2024
I always go on there for literally anything
It wasn’t just an app full of cringe trends
