The House passed a bill Wednesday forcing social media app TikTok to either sell to a non-Chinese-owned company or risk a permanent ban in the U.S.
The measure passed with a resonant 352-65 vote—Republicans and 155 Democrats voted to approve the bill, whereas 15 Republicans and 50 Democrats voted against House bill H.R. 7521, dubbed the “Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act.”
The bipartisan legislation aims to protect Americans by thwarting foreign competitors, like the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), from targeting, surveilling and manipulating the American people through applications like TikTok.
One Democrat voted “present.”
????#BREAKING: The U.S. House has just approved the bill threatening to ban TikTok if ByteDance refuses to divest lol ???? pic.twitter.com/5dxm0C1EM4
— SR ⁶⁹ (@ultimate__d) March 13, 2024
“We must ensure the Chinese government cannot weaponize TikTok against American users and our government through data collection and propaganda,” House Majority Leader Steve Scalise said, per The Hill.
However, the Senate still needs to introduce a companion bill, and the legislation needs to be passed in both the House and the Senate before it is sent to the president for his signature.
“This process was secret, and the bill was jammed through for one reason: it’s a ban,” a spokesperson from TikTok said after the vote was passed. “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.”
Trump is asked a simple question about TikTok, and he’s unable to answer. He stumbles and mumbles gibberish, and cannot form a coherent thought or sentence. (Video: CNBC) pic.twitter.com/giABEzjpa9
— Mike Sington (@MikeSington) March 11, 2024
Former President Donald Trump proposed a ban in 2020 when he was in the White House. However, he now says he opposes the ban.
“Frankly, there are a lot of people on TikTok that love it,” Trump said in an interview with CNBC. “There are a lot of young kids on TikTok who will go crazy without it.”
“There’s a lot of good and there’s a lot of bad with TikTok,” he added, “but the thing I don’t like is that without TikTok, you can make Facebook bigger, and I consider Facebook to be an enemy of the people, along with a lot of the media.”
Biden confirmed he would sign the bill if passed by Congress.
