A bipartisan bill that could see TikTok banned in the United States has passed the US House of Representatives by a vote of 325-65. The Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act would demand that TikTok divest from its Chinese parent company. If the company refused, the app would become unavailable in the United States. The bill was proposed on the basis of protecting the data of American users from the Chinese. However, many opponents have labeled the bill as Sinophobic fearmongering.
The bill must now pass the Senate, where there is much less clear-cut support for the legislation. A spokesperson for Tiktok has already urged senators to reject the bill. “This process was secret and the bill was jammed through for one reason: It’s a ban. We are hopeful the Senate will consider the facts, listen to their constituents, and realize the impact on the economy. Seven million small businesses and 170 million Americans use our service,” the spokesperson told the BBC.
The U.S. House has officially passed the bill to ban TikTok if its owner, Chinese company ByteDance, refuses to sell the platform. pic.twitter.com/07YqCma2Eq
— Pop Base (@PopBase) March 13, 2024
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