US lawmakers on Tuesday introduced legislation that could force Beijing-based ByteDance to divesting itself of shares in short video app TikTok or ban the app in the United States if passed. This move is aimed at tackling alleged national security concerns about the app’s Chinese ownership.
Previous Senate legislation to ban the app in the United States was stalled in Congress last year with heavy lobbying from TikTok, reports Reuters. TikTok, along with 58 other Chinese apps was banned by the Indian government’s Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology in 2022.
The new draft bill introduced on Tuesday has bipartisan support. Mike Gallagher, the Republican chair of the House of Representatives’ select committee on China and Raja Krishnamoorthi, the democrat who serves as ranking member on the committee, are among the many lawmakers who are intriducing the bill. It is expected to go through an initial vote on Thursday.
If the bill is passed, it will give a penalty to app stores and web hosting services that distribute TikTok and other such services unless it is separated from Chinese ownership. The penalty will be $5,000 per number of United States users that “accessed, maintained or, or updated” the app.
“This is my message to TikTok: break up with the Chinese Communist Party or lose access to your American users. America’s foremost adversary has no business controlling a dominant media platform in the United States,” said Gallagher in a statement. Krishnamoorthi further added that as long as it is owned by ByteDance, TikTok will be forced to collaborate with the Chinese Communist Party and will post threats to the country’s national security.
“Our bipartisan legislation would protect American social media users by driving the divestment of foreign adversary-controlled apps to ensure that Americans are protected from the digital surveillance and influence operations of regimes that could weaponize their personal data against them. Whether it’s Russia or the CCP, this bill ensures the President has the tools he needs to press dangerous apps to divest and defend Americans’ security and privacy against our adversaries,” explained Krishnamoorthi.
TikTok spokesperson Alex Haurek told The Verge that [the legislation] “will trample the First Amendment rights of 170 million Americans and deprive 5 million small businesses of a platform they rely on to grow and create jobs.”
The proposed bill to ban TikTok comes during an election year for the United States, when candidates will be looking to leverage the platform to reach out to voters, especially younger voters.
