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Recently, a new bill was brought up in the US House of Representatives that would ban TikTok. Today, the entire house voted on the measure, and it passed with bipartisan support. With 352 voting for and 65 voting against. Apparently, the House can actually be in agreement.
The next step is the US Senate. It’s currently unclear what would happen with this bill in the Senate. However, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer did state that “The Senate will review the legislation when it comes over from the House.”
A TikTok spokesperson said, “This process was secret, and the bill was jammed through for one reason: It’s a ban.” TikTok is also “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.”
What’s interesting now is that former President Trump has started to push back on a TikTok ban despite supporting it while he was president. He is arguing that if TikTok were out of the picture, Facebook could benefit the most, while he attacked Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, calling him the “enemy of the people.”
What’s next for this TikTok Ban?
The first step towards a TikTok Ban has happened, so what’s next? Well, it’s going to head to the Senate, and if it is passed without any further revisions, then it’ll head to President Biden’s desk. Which President Biden has said he would sign a TikTok Ban.
If this is passed into law, TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, would have a six-month window to sell TikTok or face a ban from the US app stores and web hosting services.
This is not the first time that the US has tried to ban TikTok, however the “Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act” has drawn more support far more quickly than previous bills did.