The US House of Representatives is set to vote on Wednesday regarding a bill that could lead to TikTok severing ties with its Chinese parent company or facing a ban in the United States.
The proposed legislation represents a significant threat to the popular video-sharing app, which has gained massive popularity globally but has also raised concerns among government officials and security experts about its Chinese ownership and potential ties to the Communist Party in Beijing.
The vote is scheduled for 10:00 am (1400 GMT) and is anticipated to pass with strong bipartisan support, marking a rare moment of agreement in a deeply divided political landscape in Washington.
However, the bill’s future in the Senate remains uncertain, as key figures in the chamber are hesitant to take such drastic action against a widely popular app boasting 170 million users in the US.
President Joe Biden has signaled his willingness to sign the bill, officially named the “Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act,” into law if it reaches his desk, according to the White House.
The proposed measure, which cleared committee unanimously last week, would compel TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, to divest the app within 180 days or face removal from Apple and Google app stores in the US. Additionally, it grants the president authority to designate other apps as national security threats if they are controlled by countries deemed adversarial to the US.
Reports suggest that TikTok executives were caught off guard by the renewed push against the app, especially after President Biden joined TikTok last month as part of his reelection campaign.
TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew is currently in Washington seeking support to oppose the bill, while the company’s vice president for public policy, Michael Beckerman, has raised concerns about the legislation’s constitutionality and the lack of public hearings.
The bill’s sponsors, Republican Mike Gallagher and Democrat Raja Krishnamoorthi, along with the White House, argue that the bill does not constitute a ban on TikTok as long as the company separates from ByteDance.
China has condemned the move, warning of repercussions for the US. Meanwhile, former President Donald Trump, who previously sought to force ByteDance to relinquish control of TikTok, has reversed his position, citing concerns that a ban would benefit Meta, the parent company of Instagram and Facebook.
Efforts to ban TikTok in the past have faced legal and constitutional challenges, with concerns raised over free speech rights. TikTok has consistently denied allegations of ties to the Chinese government and asserts that it has restructured its operations to ensure the data of US users remains within the country.
