Social media site TikTok could be banned in the USA after a bill was passed in the House of Representatives.
The bill would give TikTik’s Chinese parent company, ByteDance, six months to dispose of its stake in the wildpy popular app, or face it being banned from being used in the US.
However, while the bill was passed by the House of Representatives, it is not yet law – it still needs to be passed by the Senate and then signed off by president Joe Biden to achieve that. President Biden has indicated that if it does land on his desk, he will sign it off.
The bill came about over long-standing worries among those in power about the influence that the Chinese authorities have over the app. For instance, in China, which is ruled by the Communist Party, businesses are required by law to share data with the government if they are so requested.
However, TikTok has previously tried to reassure regulators that the data of US users of the app – about 150 million people – has been walled off from the company in China and is secure. But a Wall Street Journal investigation in January found that data was unofficially shared between TikTok in the US and ByteDance in China.
If the bill becomes law, it will likely put the US on a diplomatic collision course with China. Chinese businesses must have approval from officials to be able t complete a forced sale – something the Chinese authorities have said they would oppose.
It could also bring a hit to the US economy – summary findings published by Oxford Economics this month said that TikTok contributed more than $24 billion to the US economy in 2023. Oxford Economics also reported that 224,00 jobs in small- to medium-sized businesses in the US were supported by using TikTok as a platform to grow their business.
The Senate will now debate the law and decide whether it goes further to becoming law.
